


School of Mundane Trials

by orphan_account



Category: Dangan Ronpa
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Gen, Humor, M/M, Multi, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-31
Updated: 2014-03-23
Packaged: 2018-01-06 22:10:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 51,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1112094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I DO NOT RECOMMEND READING THIS IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED DANGAN RONPA</p><p>This work takes the reader into an alternate universe where there is not only a complete lack of Junko's despair obsession, but Hope's Peak Academy doesn't encourage mutual killing and stressful life-or-death school trials. Instead, the original sixteen students simply live together and carry out their school year as they would have. Although, there is one thing that remains. There are still class trials, but the subject of the debates are much more mundane.</p><p>This light-hearted story follows the perspective of Aoi Asahina and her experiences in her senior high school year in Hope's Peak Academy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first multi chapter work, and I'm experimenting with a different writing style. I hope this work will continue to grow!

Aoi finished her Summer Assignment with an exasperated sigh. Her forehead plopped onto the surface of the book and she smiled weakly. She finally finished. For moments she continued to ponder the purpose of summer assignments and why it was absolutely necessary to give it to seventeen year old students. Well, almost all of them were seventeen. She didn’t want to think about that at the moment. In fact, Aoi didn’t want to think at all. She rested her head and felt her consciousness slowly drift into dream world. Several minutes later, frantic but powerful knocks on her dorm door pounded into her ears. She groggily stood up from her desk (which now had traces of drool) to answer the door. Aoi opened the door to find none other than her best friend, Sakura, stand in the doorway. Her expression was stoic. Sakura’s arms were folded almost in an intimidating way. Her athletic bag was by her feet, and Aoi could almost see small stains of blood around the side pocket of it. Aoi began to shiver in fear.

“Sakura, what’s wrong?” Aoi asked cautiously.

“It’s very important,” the fighter answered hoarsely. Aoi gasped.

“What happened?! Are you okay?” Sakura’s expression changed into a huge grin. She pulled out numerous magazines from her bag and she beamed at Asahina.

“Junko lent me her fashion magazines to look at!” she announced, giggling. Aoi jumped excitedly. “Oh, you scared me! Yes, come in! I have a stash of granola bars under the bed!” Aoi peered her head out the door as Sakura walked in with her bag. “I hope nobody heard that,” Aoi mumbled as she closed the door.

Sakura sat on Aoi’s bed and scattered the magazines across her comforter. Aoi pranced over and flopped onto the bed, belly-first. “Wow, Junko is on a lot of these!” Aoi exclaimed, looking through the pile. Sakura nodded.

“Yes, she does have…” Sakura paused and mimicked Junko’s voice, “a passion for fashion.” Aoi snorted and tipped over to her side and laughed. “Sakura, you do the best impressions!” Sakura folded her arms.

“Yes, it is a shame I am not also a Super High School Level Impressionist. Alas, I am too talented of a fighter for such a title.” Aoi pulled the box of Nature Valley bars from under her bed and handed Sakura a few as the two perused through the several magazines, pointing at the different outfits and shoes in the photo spreads. Sakura pulled her white mane into a bun and put it on the top of her head to keep the hair out of her face. Aoi looked and tried to conceal her laughter. Sakura noticed and glanced up from the magazine to Aoi’s nearly pained expression. Sakura squinted.

“Something wrong with my hair?” she asked. Aoi shook her head, face in one of the magazines. Her snorts and chuckles were silenced by the pages in her face. Sakura moved her head around more dramatically when she talked to make the bun move more.

“I. Said. Is. Some. Thing. Wrong. With. My. Hair?!” Aoi laughed loudly and nodded, pointing at it and laughing. Sakura bellowed a hearty chuckle with Asahina, until they heard the speakers.

“ _Attention, everyone report to the gym at 19:00! This is a required assembly_!” Sakura and Aoi looked at each other with confused expressions. They both shrugged and pulled out their cell phones to check the time.

“Oh crap, it’s thirty before! We should head over right now!” Aoi worried, standing up and brushing granola crumbs off her shorts. Sakura stood up and untied her bun. The girls gathered the magazines and sloppily put them back into Sakura’s athletic bag.

“We’ll come back after the announcements and you can get your bag, okay?” Sakura nodded, and the two hurried out. As usual, they were almost the first to the assembly. With the exception of the ever-punctual Kiyotaka Ishimaru, but that was expected of a “Moral Compass”. They waited in the center of the gym, trying to avoid eye contact with him. They didn’t want to be lectured for whatever reason he could come up with. The next few people arrived just minutes after them. A very petite girl nervously walked in with a very large man (with an exceptionally odd hairstyle) walked in behind her. Aoi waved at them.

“Hey Chihiro! Hey Mondo!” she greeted happily. Sakura nodded at them, and Mondo nodded at them in return. Chihiro gave a smile and approached them.

“Good evening Aoi, Sakura,” the little one said. Aoi blinked.

“What do you think this assembly is about?” Aoi inquired, curiously. Chihiro paused to think, finger poking cheek. She shrugged.

“I can’t really say, this school, as prestigious as it is, seems to organize things at the last minute,” they uttered just above a whisper. Sakura and Aoi turned to each other with confused expressions, they turned back to Chihiro. “Well, thanks anyway,” Aoi mumbled. Chihiro nodded and walked to join Mondo and the hall monitor in their laughing and “bro-punches”.

More students entered as the time for the assembly drew closer. Aoi sighed and leaned on Sakura. “Do you think anyone would know what this is about?”

“There is Ishima-“

“No,” Aoi interrupted, nuzzling her face into Sakura’s arm and slouching. Eventually, everyone was in the gym, and the low hum of voices was only notches below a roar concocted of everyone’s conversations and stomping and laughing. Sakura turned to the stage. “It’s beginning,” she said under her breath.

Aoi turned to the stage curiously to see their small, stuffed-toy headmaster. “Good evening, students!” the small bear greeted. Everyone hummed a half-heart or confused “good evening” in return.

“Upupupu! The school year is starting soon, I hope you all had a nice summer moving in and making yourselves comfortable here! I hope you all finished your summer assignments!” Monobear announced. Everyone groaned except for Ishimaru, who bowed with a “Yes, headmaster!” Monobear looked at all the students, who still looked confused.

“Today, I will present to you a new activity this school will carry out throughout this year!” Monobear exclaimed. The students glanced at each other confusedly. Monobear continued. “Throughout the years, I’ve learned that you teenagers always go around and make trouble and have drama and gossip and blah blah blah, so I decided that here at Hope’s Peak Academy, all rumors will be brought into light!” Aoi turned to Sakura and raised an eyebrow. Sakura shrugged back and turned to the stage again.

“Upupupu! For every event that happens to a student in which can induce any juicy gossip there will be a school debate, or trial, perhaps, to uncover the truth and secrets of you students! For example, ‘so-and-so has received a love note from somebody else! Report to the trial room in three hours after your investigation!’ Or let’s say someone went out and did something like vandalism, then we would hold a trial for that as well! You know, stupid things you teenagers do! I know school can get boring, so I thought this would really spice things up!”

The fiery-haired student stepped forward. “No offense, well, okay, a little offense intended – Isn’t this a little stupid?”

The bear laughed and held its belly with each bellow of sound. “It may sound stupid, until I tell you about the reward!” The students looked around confusedly, but inched closer to the stage, interested. “If you were to commit a ‘crime’ and found innocent during class trial, you will be rewarded… The winner will be able to graduate from Hope’s Peak with 50,000,000 yen,” Monobear paused for a reaction. Nearly all the students gasped and whispered to each other. Togami sneered.

“And,” Monobear continued, “Can graduate without having to take the exit exam or write the 14 page exit essay!” At this point the gym was in an uproar.

Aoi tugged on Sakura. “Oh my gosh I need that, I’m awful at writing!” Sakura nodded in return, “Would be nice.”

“However, if you commit a ‘crime’ and the class finds you guilty, then the class wins. Everyone will receive the same gift but on a much smaller scale, such as bigger beds or extra credit on their next test. For each trial the gifts will vary. However, if you are the culprit, you will not receive that round of gifts and are suspended from the next trial.” Everyone nodded and shrugged.

“Seems fair,” Aoi muttered her breath. The fashionista stepped forward.

“So what you’re saying is, if we can successfully pry into the private life of another student in a class, we will all be rewarded for being nosy?” she asked, hands on hips. Everyone turned to Monobear with widened eyes. The headmaster stood for a moments, then nodded.

“Yeah, pretty much,” he answered.

“Oh,” Junko affirmed, “just asking.”

“Very well! Remember that you’re all still under surveillance, so don’t think I don’t know what you’re hiding! And yes, you are still allowed your free time in the afternoon to hit the town as long as you’re back before the dinner announcement! But take me seriously when I say I’m always watching you…” the headmaster slunk behind the podium and seemingly disappeared. A wave of murmur was heard throughout the gym. Someone suddenly raised their voice.

“Kinda sounds like a dumb idea,” Mondo started, hands on his hips, “I think what’s my business should stay my business,” he said confidently, crossing his arms.

“Well,” Yamada piped up, “Let’s see if you still have that attitude while you write that 14 page essay while I walk out the front door half a billion yen richer!” he chuckled heartily, receiving a glare from Mondo.

“Now we know to keep an eye out for you,” Sayaka joked with a small laugh. Yamada froze and everyone else snickered under their breath.

“Hmm,” Sakura hummed. Aoi looked up at her with a puzzled expression. She looked down and smiled at Asahina. “This may be an interesting school year.”


	2. Awkward School Days: Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The school year is about to begin in Hope's Peak Academy, and everything seems to be going normally for Aoi Asahina. But it seems some of the students are planning something... What are those students up to?

It’s been a week since the announcement, and the school had been more or less uneventful. Aoi woke up with a small kink in her neck. She sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes. The clock on her nightstand read “6:19”, and she groaned before lying back in her bed. Her body turned toward the clock and she stared at it for a few minutes. _I wonder,_ she thought, _if anyone is actually going to be able to graduate with all that money_. She frowned. “Just as long as it’s not that creepy blond guy…” she muttered to herself.

After staring at the clock for about two minutes, she sat up again and yawned. Her feet met the cold floor, and shuffled across to her dresser. _Shorts or yoga pants…_ Aoi glanced between the two groups of bottoms in her drawer. She shrugged, assuming the weather would be as good as yesterday. She slid on her athletic shorts, grabbed a tank top from her top drawer, and yanked her jacket from the coat hanger in her room.

“Or I could wear the blue one…” she thought out loud. Aoi pondered over the two, debating internally. She eventually stuck with her red one. A loud knocking came on her door, and she mustered a hoarse “Coming!” as she rushed over. She swung it open to find her friend, Sakura, smiling at her.

“My girl Aoi, good morning!” Sakura greeted. Aoi smiled back.

“Good morning, Sakura! Come on in! You sure got ready early!” Sakura sat at the deck chair as Aoi danced over to the sink in her bathroom. She kept the door open as she began washing her face.

“I woke up as 5:30 this morning,” Sakura stated, swaying in the swivel chair back and forth. Aoi cringed and turned to her.

“Really? That sounds terrible! Did you train?”

“Yeah, I went to the training room to lift for half an hour, then came back to my room to shower,” she answered, observing Aoi’s mini-stereo. She turned it on and upbeat pop music began playing. Sakura turned it down and focused again on Asahina.

“You said you wanted to run with me today?” Sakura inquired, watching Aoi brush her hair. Aoi nodded and stepped out the bathroom.

“Yeah! A little jog! I’ve gained some weight from eating the food here at the school, and we moved in just a month ago!” Aoi responded, embarrassed. Sakura crossed her arms.

“Maybe your weight gaining would be under control if you stopped snacking on high-sugar granola bars or got your hands away from every pastry you find.” Aoi frowned.

“Only a crazy person would turn down a fresh donut, Sakura,” Aoi grumbled, heading back into the bathroom to tie her hair up. She reached for her toothbrush. As she scrubbed her teeth with her toothbrush, Sakura continued.

“You do have a strange obsession with food… must be a ‘swimmer’ thing…. Anyway, do not fret if you gain some weight. I hate to sound cliché, but you are beautiful at any size,” Sakura encouraged. Aoi, still brushing her teeth pointed at Sakura, then held up two fingers, which Sakura assumed meant “You too”. Aoi cleaned out her mouth with mouthwash after brushing her teeth, and walked out her bathroom.

“Ready?” Sakura asked, turning off the mini stereo. Aoi nodded, and the two  walked out the room into the hall. Not too many meters ahead was Naegi, shuffling his way to the cafeteria. Aoi waved from behind (for whatever reason, she just thought it was necessary) and greeted “Good morning, Naegi! What do you think they’re serving today?”

He sleepily turned to her and Sakura, and half-halfheartedly waved. “Morning,” he mumbled, letting them approach him. He stretched his arms with a large inhale, then scratched his back.

“You two sure are morning people,” he uttered. Aoi beamed at him.

“Of course, that’s the responsibility of an athlete!” she stated happily. “What kind of great athlete doesn’t rise with the sun? Right, Sakura?”

“Precisely,” the fighter said. “Now let’s go to the cafeteria. We all know who’s waiting there.”

Naegi moaned, “Ugh, it’s too early for him. But I guess you’re right. Let’s just not cause any trouble.” As they walked in they saw none other than Ishimaru, standing in the front of the cafeteria. It appeared he was standing guard, watching the vicinity with his hawk-like glare. Chihiro was at a table, nibbling on a bagel, and shyly waved at the group that walked in.

“Good morning Chihiro!” Aoi exclaimed from across the room, but a sudden roar rised up.

“Voices down in the cafeteria!” the hall monitor demanded. Aoi frowned. Naegi snickered softly.

“I think he’s in a bad mood,” Sakura whispered. The other two nodded and they all joined Chihiro at the table.

“I’m so glad you’re here,” Chihiro asserted with a sigh of relief, “I thought I was going to be alone this breakfast.”

“Of course you won’t be! We’re morning people too, except Naegi… but Sakura and I are never late for anything!” she remarked proudly, hands on her hips. “Now, let’s get food!” she exclaimed, running over to the buffet of food. Her eyes widened and so did her gaping mouth. An array of foods was once again bestowed to her. Aoi quickly grabbed a tray and the largest plate available, and then began piling food on top of each other. All in a blur, she gathered the French toast, the eggs, the bacon, the ham, biscuits, toast, bagels, steak, more eggs, musubi, onigiri, and topped it off with two donuts. She balanced her heavy tray in her hands and turned back to Sakura.

“Can you get some napkins for me?” she asked, and Sakura stared at Aoi’s plate for a solid minute, then nodded. “Thanks,” Aoi said under her breath as she carefully made her way back to Chihiro’s table. The young programmer’s face became one of total shock, and their big amber eyes were locked on the platter.

“Can… can you really eat all that?” Chihiro pried, trembling in fear of the large pile of food. Aoi blinked.

“What? It’s just breakfast.” Sakura sat beside Aoi and handed her the napkins. Chihiro glanced down at their plate which consisted of a half-finished bagel, some melon slices and a small helping of scrambled eggs. Naegi sat down next to Chihiro and gasped in horror at Aoi’s plate.

“Are you really going to finish that?” Naegi uttered in fear. Aoi glanced at him and smiled. “Duh,” was the only word she mustered before she dove into her meal. Within minutes the first half disappeared into her mouth. Sakura continued to watch with a completely indifferent expression, as Chihiro and Naegi and other students entering watched with complete awe and/or terror. Mondo and Leon, who came in just minutes after she started, cheered her on from the table next to hers. Celestia shot Aoi a dirty look and continued drinking her milk tea. Yamada observed carefully, almost as if he was mentally taking note of her technique, and nodded occasionally.

“I’m done!” she announced, sitting back into the chair and patted her belly. Mondo and Leon cheered until they were met with Ishimaru who loudly insisted they keep their voices down. She looked at Naegi’s plate to see two pieces of toast and a decent-sized pile of eggs. She smirked.

“Wow Naegi, that’s a lot of Nae…. _eggies_ ,” she muttered. Naegi’s face of horror turned into a frown. Chihiro covered their face and hid their laughter.

“I’m can’t belie – I’m moving. It was… interesting to see you eat breakfast.” And hurriedly, he rushed to Sayaka’s table and greeted her with a smile. Chihiro looked at their plate after they finished nibbling at their food, and smiled.

“That was rather impressive, Aoi,” they complimented. Aoi flexed and smiled.

“Thank you! But it’s just what I do every morning!” Chihiro glanced at Sakura, who nodded. Soon enough, Mondo joined their table, and Leon pulled up an extra chair.

“Nicely done, swimmer girl!” Leon complimented with a high-five, Aoi nodded with a grin. Mondo folded his arms.

“Yeah, good shit – “

“LANGUAGE, MONDO,” boomed a voice. Mondo frowned.

“Good _stuff_ , Asahina. You girls doing anything today?” Mondo asked, looking around at the table. The girls looked at each other and shrugged.

“Aoi and I intended to have a nice run today, but other than that I suppose we have no plans.”

“Good! Because me and this weenie here – “ he stood up and placed his hand on Leon’s head which received a “yo, watch the hair” response, “Wanna plan a pool party for everyone here. Ya know, before the whole school year starts. Whaddaya think? Leon’s got this crazy stereo system, Sayaka’s got some bumpin’ music, and since you swim Aoi, you can be our lifeguard! What think, ladies? Yeah or nah?”

Aoi and Sakura smiled at each other, and Chihiro clasped their hands together, “What a wonderful idea! I’m pretty good with technical things, and I’m not so much a swimmer. I’d be happy to be the disc jockey!”

Mondo nodded, impressed, “The little lady a DJ? I like that! Alright, lemme get everyone else recruited – Everyone’s here in the cafeteria right, could I just make an announcement?”

“Well are you sure you wanna have… you know… hear about it?” Leon whispered. The hall monitor approached the table

“Hear about what?” his booming voice pried. The gang leader and baseball star froze in their position, faces cringed.

“A party, I assume?” he asked, getting into Mondo’s face. Mondo puffed out his chest.

“Nothing about no party ‘round here, buddy,” he retorted. Ishimaru squinted at him, and then turned to the table, and to everyone’s surprise, smiled.

“I think it’s a much splendid idea!” Ishimaru commented with hands up in excitement, “How wonderful! Everyone can bond before the school year begins! I’d be more than happy to supervise and party with all of you!” Mondo and Leon glanced at each other, then shrugged. Mondo wrapped an arm around Ishimaru’s shoulder.

“You got it buddy, pool party it is!” Mondo announced loudly, grabbing the attention of the other students. Togami sneered from a faraway table.

“A pool party, really?” he piped up from the other side of the room, a nervous girl standing just a few meters behind him. He stood up, arms crossed.

“Considering our odd circumstances, how bad of an idea do you think this is? From one to invading the Russians in the middle of winter?” The scion sighed. “Imagine, a pool party with a bunch of rowdy teenagers wearing nothing but swimsuits, surrounded by loud music, and nothing but a piece of shrimp giving us supervision?” The students fell silent. Two girls stood up, and shot Togami a look.

“No need to be a party pooper Togami! If you don’t want to go you don’t have to! He didn’t say it was required!” Junko claimed. Her sister nodded.

“Besides, I believe it has good intentions,” Mukuro added. Togami rolled his eyes.

“Fine, but don’t get mad at _me_ when we’re all pulled in to some absurd trial to win some prize that nobody even wants. Half a billion yen, that’s a joke.” He began walking out and snapped his finger, and Fukawa followed him before shooting a dirty look at all the other students behind her. Sayaka stood up and brushed off her skirt, and Kyouko stood up just as she did, fixing her gloves.

“Did you have a time in mind, Oowada?” she asked, facing him. He turned to Aoi.

“Well, Aoi’s going to be our lifeguard, and she’s going on a run. So we’ll let her finish her run, give her time to prepare… then me and Chihiro and Leon… and maybe Ishimaru have to set up… So maybe after dinner? So you guys still get your free time an’ stuff. Sound good to everyone?”

Everyone agreed, but the class discussion was truncated by a panting tall figure that swung open the cafeteria door. Everyone turned to him, and rolled their eyes.

“Sorry I’m late guys!” he piped up, running a nervous hand through his dreadlocks. He looked at everyone’s faces. “Did I miss anything?”

Mondo face palmed, shaking his head. “Dammit, Hagakure.”

He rushed up to Aoi’s table after grabbing an apple and a piece of bacon, and sat down. He nodded at everyone at the table and turned to Mondo.

“What happened? I’m sorry! I got lost again, and then I heard something down the hall from my room, right? So I run over there – No, wait, I got my _supplies_ first and performed a séance to make sure there wasn’t some evil spirits running around, but it turns out it was actually my pet lizard that I lost, well I didn’t have one, but when I saw the lizard and I wanted to make it my pet, and I named it Morocco. Kinda a cool name for a lizard if you ask me – “

“GET ON WITH IT!” the students yelled. He held his hands up defensively, “Okay, okay!”

“Alright, so, I catch the lizard, then I found a cage for it in the storage room. I went outside and found some branches and leaves for it, and a few nice looking rocks, so ya know, it can feel at home. I still don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl, so if it’s a girl, should I name it Morocca? But that sounds too much like Maraca – “

“Dude, we’re having a pool party after dinner!” Leon belted loudly to stop Hagakure from talking. He paused and smiled at everyone.

“Seriously? Awesome! I can’t wait to bring my lizard!”

“Please don’t,” requested Celestia from her table, giving him a dirty look before setting her tea cup back on her ornate tray. Yamada blinked a few times and shrugged at Hagakure. Aoi sighed. _To think I have to supervise party with these morons,_ she thought. Although, they all meant well. She stood up and raised her arms, stretching.

“Well, Mukuro and I are gonna go downtown to shop for swimsuits, any other girls interested?” Junko announced, grinning. Sayaka raised her hand, and Celestia stood up. Sakura nudged Asahina and grinned, whispering “we should go.”

“We’re going!” Aoi yelled, and Junko gave a thumbs-up.

“Great, so all the girls – Fujisaki, you coming?”

The petite one fiddled with their fingers and shook their head. “No, I’m going to prepare for the party. I’m the DJ after all.” Junko beamed.

“Well, alright then! We’ll skip lunch and head to the stores, then eat at a cafe instead. You never want to try on clothes after you eat… it’s the worst thing imaginable. Anyway, see you all later! We’ll take Mukuro’s car!” Mukuro’s expression fell as though she figured Junko would say that. The two waved at everyone and left, leaving excited whispers in the cafeteria. Sakura stood up and grunted while stretching her back.

“We’ll meet at the track at eleven, okay Aoi?” she asked, Aoi smiled.

“You got it! I’ll meet you there!” Sakura walked out. Aoi sat and picked at Sakura’s unfinished gathering of grapes on her plate.

“You two gonna train?” asked the fortune teller. Aoi looked up.

“Yep! Gotta stay in shape!” Aoi responded. “Maybe you should walk your lizard or something.” Hagakure raised an eyebrow.

“Are you inviting me?” the psychic implored. Aoi raised her brows in surprise.

“Well, no. I was suggesting that you could like, take it on a walk. Maybe around the school. I don’t know. Do lizards even like walks?”

“I have no idea,” he replied, laughing softly while putting mustard on his bacon and taking a bite. She watched him curiously.

“Mustard?”

“Gives the sweetness of the bacon a bit of a tangy kick. Without the use of citrus.” He took another bite, chewing happily. Aoi nodded.

“Right… I’m gonna go,” she muttered, standing up and walking out, almost gagging at the idea of putting a condiment as irrelevant as mustard on her sweet, precious bacon. Anyway, she had to prepare for her run now. And then shopping. And last but not least, the party.


	3. Awkward School Days: Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plan for a pool party is on full-sail! And Aoi is preparing beforehand to go shopping with her friends! Well, not before a series of mishaps and misunderstandings...

Asahina plopped back on her bed and thought about what to do for the next three hours. She grabbed a granola bar from under her bed and snacked on it, looking around her room. There were a few articles of clothes scattered around, and she thought about doing a quick round of laundry before going on her run. She was already in running clothes anyway. After throwing her wrapper away, she picked up all her clothes and put in her hamper, and began to exit her room on the way to the laundry room. Just as she opened the door, an unexpected person stood here, in position to knock.

                “H-hi,” Hagakure greeted, holding a fairly large lizard. Aoi’s eyes were fixated on its head.

                “Um, hello?” she replied, a little confused, looking around. “Are you lost again?”

                She was met with a hearty laugh from the dreadlocked eccentric, and he shook his head with a grin. He held out his lizard to her. She stared at it, then looked back up at him.

                “What do you want me to do with it? I’m a little busy right now,” she said, holding up her hamper. “You need me to wash it or whatever? Because I don’t think I can.”

                “Oh, no! I just thought you’d be interested!” he claimed, letting the lizard rest on his shoulder. He pointed at the hamper she was holding. “You need help with that?”

                “Um, I can do my laundry by myself just fine. Thanks, though.”

                “You sure? My room is just a few doors down from the laundry room, and I got a load in already! I’d be happy to help you with your laundry!”

                She eyed him carefully, and without a word began to walk away from him, and he ran to catch up with her.

                “Oh I see, you have underwear in there or something. I’m very careful with my hands, see if you look at my fingertips, you can tell they’re hardly calloused! Although I do have a few paper cuts but that’s a whole other story… anyway, I can do your laundry with a blindfold on! But I won’t try to feel up your panties or anything – “ the two stopped as Leon walked by them and heard them at the wrong time, and covered his mouth snickering.

                “What the hell is up with you two?” he joked, laughing. Aoi groaned.

                “He has been talking at me nonstop and I’m trying to go to the laundry room to do my laundry,” she answered, a little viciously. Hagakure smiled.

                “And I’m offering to help!” he beamed. Leon smirked.

                “Yeah, I heard, you’re gonna feel up her panties.”

                “Oh my god Leon, please stop,” Aoi hushed. Leon laughed and gave her a thumbs-up and winked.

                “Nah, I get it. He’s just being a chucklefuck. Well, you two have fun with your ‘laundry’, I have to clean up the pool deck with the corn-haired wonder.”

                He walked off with a swagger, still laughing to himself. Aoi groaned and walked faster to the laundry room while Hagakure seemed busy with his lizard, and almost ran on the way there. As she walked, she looked back to check and found herself bumping into someone, and her clothes scattered across the floor.

                “Oh crap! I’m so sorry!” she apologized, looking up at the person. It was Chihiro, who was rubbing their shoulder after the collision.

                “Ah, it’s okay,” they reassured with a small smile. The programmer looked to the floor and started picking up some shirts and shorts. “Laundry day?”

                “Yeah,” Aoi breathed out, crouching down to pick up some clothes. Just as Aoi was about to reach out for her bra, a door opened in front of her, and it was none other than the young heir. He froze at the sight before him. After swallowing he held his hand out and looked away.

                “Clean up this filth, I don’t want it in my presence.”

                ‘It’s called a ‘bra’, not ‘filth’. You can just keep walking and pretend you didn’t see anything,” she said, picking it up and putting it back in her hamper. “No need to be so pretentious,” she muttered under her breath. Togami pushed up his glasses, hiding his face.

                “I don’t want to see intimates at this time of the day,” he mumbled, walking away quickly. Aoi turned to Chihiro and shrugged, then the two bursted into laughter.

                “’At this time of the day’? At what time of the day does _he_ see intimates?” Aoi spoke, picking her hamper back up. “Well, thank you so much, you’re the best!”

                Chihiro smiled, “It’s no problem, really! I drop my clothes on the way to the laundry room sometimes. No big deal.”

                Aoi heard loud laughter in the hallways, remembering that she had to get to the laundry room quickly before he does. She thanked Chihiro again and sped to the laundry room, and closed the door behind her with a sigh. She looked up to see some clothes hanging, and a swimsuit caught her eye. After scrutinizing it, it looked like her swimsuit, except it has some writing on it.

                “Ha… Hag… Hagakure!?” she read it out loud. The door suddenly opened.

                “Oh good, you’re here!” Hagakure exclaimed, closing the door. She groaned internally, stopping herself before she pulls out her clothes for washing.

                “My lizard can do a cool trick, wanna see?”

                “Maybe next time, Hagakure,” she answered, trying to keep her upbeat attitude. He set the lizard at the ground. “Aoi! Aoi watch this!” he encouraged until she turned around to watch. He got in a stance, and snapped his finger. The lizard jumped onto his leg and climbed onto his shoulder. “Ta-da!” he celebrated, and gave the lizard a small piece of chocolate.

                “Hagakure, are you sure you can feed your lizard chocolate?” she asked curiously. He blinked, then shrugged. He walked over to one of the washing machines across from Aoi, and checked on his clothes. While he wasn’t looking, she stuffed  all her clothes into the machine, pulled out the laundry detergent, and poured it into the small compartment in the washer before she pressed “start”. She sat back in one of the chairs, and put in her earphones to listen to her music. To her surprise, for the next ten minutes, Hagakure didn’t budge or speak a word. He remained focused on his laundry. She began nodding off, lying back in the chair. Peacefully napping.

                It only felt like moments later when she felt someone shaking her, and she fluttered her eyes open to see an excited pair of light brown eyes. He smiled at her.

                “Hey! You were knocked out for some time, so I finished your laundry!” he stated, handing her the clothing basket with all her clothes. They were dry and neatly folded according to category. The bottoms with bottoms, tops with tops, and underwear with bras. She sat up quickly and looked around.

                “H-How long was I asleep?!” she yelled frantically, making him take a few steps back. He looked up at the clock and counted on his fingers.

                “Uh… about three hours. It’s about lunch time which means you girls are going out shopping I think?” he said, scratching the back of his head. She blinked and smacked her forehead.

                “Shit! I forgot my run with Sakura!” she shouted angrily, getting up. Hagakure held out his hands to calm her down.

                “Hey, hey, she stopped by with Chihiro! Sakura was wondering where you went,  and I guess happened to bump into Chihiro, who told her you were here. Then I invited them in and showed them that you were in good hands!” he proudly stated, folding his arms. Aoi gave him a look.

                “Yes, good hands indeed,” she commented sarcastically. She picked up the clothes basket and exhaled.

                “Well, thanks for finishing my laundry… you didn’t… you know…”

                “Hah! No, I didn’t linger on the underwear. I was good! I promise!” he replied with a smile. She nodded and walked out.

                “See you tonight,” Aoi said as she opened the door with her leg.

“See you tonight!”  He waved and became occupied with his lizard. She walked down the hall back to her room, shaking off the weird feeling Hagakure gave her. As she opened her door with her leg, she felt someone take her clothes basket from her. She turned to them sharply.

                “Ah, I’m sorry I didn’t speak up! Just thought you could use some help!” Sayaka chirped, holding the basket with a bit of trouble. Asahina smiled.

                “Oh that’s fine, come in!” she enthused with a grin. Sayaka set the basket next to Asahina’s dresser, then stood back up.

                “I was sent to get you, Sakura was busy packing some snacks for all of us!” she announced. Asahina took the earphones out of her ears and rolled them up.

                “Oh! It’s time already?” Aoi glanced at her phone.

                “Yeah, let’s go!”

                The girls nearly danced down the hall to the front of the school with excitement for visiting downtown. Sayaka led her to the parking lot where a white minivan waited, with Junko standing in front of the shotgun door.

                “Oh good, you found her! We were wondering if you were gonna show up!” she called out, arms waving. Aoi laughed it off.

                “Yeah, I guess I slipped into a food coma in the middle of doing my laundry,” Aoi mumbled, rubbing the back of her head. Junko blinked in confusion.

                “Then how’d you do all your laundry?”

                “Well, Yasuhiro actually did – “

                “Oh!?” half the girls responded, suddenly very interested. Aoi waved them all off. “It’s really nothing like that! My load was already washing, he just dried it and folded everything!”

                “Everything? He even did your… _bras?_ ” Junko laughed heartily. “He should do my laundry too, that’d save me some time!” Other girls piped in with “me too” and “yeah, I still have to do the summer assignment” and “I don’t have the time to even sort my clothes” comments. Junko’s eyes fixed on another target.

                “Oh good, Sakura’s back. Hey girl! Did you bring all the snacks?” she yelled as Sakura walked across the parking lot with her athletic bag that was lumpy from being filled with snacks. Junko squealed happily and quickly sat in the middle seat of the van on the far window. Kyouko and Celestia were situated in the back, leaving a space for Sayaka as she was climbing back in. Mukuro watched Sakura climb into shotgun, and Aoi took the last middle seat before closing the door.

                “Alright, is everyone in?” Mukuro asked, looking back at everyone. The girls either nodded or gave a thumbs-up. “Seatbelts please,” Mukuro requested. Junko put her feet up onto the back of Mukuro’s seat.

                “Come on, we’ll be fine, just go!” Junko rushed, kicked the seat softly. Mukuro turned back and glared at her sister.

                “Don’t you dare, I just got this license!” she urged. Junko stopped before sticking her tongue out at her and laughing.

                Mukuro backed out of the parking lot carefully as possible, looking in all directions before pulling out and driving towards the exit. Junko rolled her eyes.

                “Oh my god Muko, we’re literally the only ones in this parking lot, you don’t have to look both ways,” Junko spat. Mukuro sighed exasperatedly.

                “Well, I just want to make sure,” she replied under her breath. After she turned onto the street, the conversation in the van started to begin.

                “Perhaps we could shop at a vintage boutique?” Celestia suggested. Kirigiri stroked her chin.

                “I just hope it’s not too expensive, the clothes in those stores can be a little unreasonably priced,” she commented. Sayaka smiled.

                “If it’s any trouble, I can pitch in a little extra if you see something you really like! It’s no trouble!”

                “Thanks, but I don’t think it’ll be much of a problem. I already have a swimsuit,” Kirigiri said, “I just was raising a concern.” Sayaka nodded, and Junko turned back to them.

                “I was hoping we’d check out one of those beach-y stores! They’ve got the best bikinis!”

                “Are we even allowed to wear bikinis at the school, Junks?” Mukuro added while driving. Junko softly kicked her seat.

                “Yeah! Uh…maybe! Hm… I don’t really know. But we _should_ be allowed to! I lost three pounds this month and I wanna show off my bod!”

                Aoi slouched in her chair and looked at her belly, poking it with a frown. _Maybe I shouldn’t have such big breakfasts, or lunches, or dinners,_ she thought to herself. Junko patted Aoi’s thigh.

                “Don’t worry girl, you’re still hot no matter what! This van’s got the best, baddest, and hottest bitches this country has to offer!” she encouraged. Aoi smiled.

                “I don’t like being referred to as a ‘bad bitch’,” commented Celestia. Junko turned back.

                “Well, Too bad! Hey Sakura, turn on the radio!” Within seconds, Sakura turned on the radio, and the familiar singing voice of none other than Sayaka was the first to come on. Some of the girls whooped and hollered in response, singing along whole heartedly. Sayaka smiled at all of them singing to her music, and she joined in as well, hitting the high notes. Minutes after the song ended and everyone applauded Sayaka, Mukuro pulled into a parking space on the main street and parked the van.

                “We’re here,” she announced over the music, turning it off just after.

                “Should I leave the bag here?” Sakura asked. Junko nodded.

                “Yeah, probably a good idea, we don’t want the stores to think we’re up to no good,” Junko said before winking, “We don’t wanna start being bad before the party!” Mukuro opened Junko’s door and hit her side of the head. “Ow!” Junko exclaimed, getting out and rubbing her head. Aoi got out from her door, letting the other girls climb out. Celestia and Junko led the way down the boulevard, looking at the different shops and giving their own commentary on each shop. Aoi and Sakura just looked around, marveling at the sights and eying the food stands that occasionally happened to be in front of the stores.

                “This one,” Celestia pointed out. The girls looked inside. It appeared to be a vintage boutique, just as Celestia suggested earlier. “Le Joie de L’oiseau,” she read the store sign out loud. Junko peered in the window and gasped.

                “Oh my god, the shoes!” she turned to the girls, “We’re going in.”

                The girls followed Junko in and marveled at all the pretty clothes hanging on the walls and dressed on the mannequins. Celestia and Sayaka made their way to the back of the shop where the swimsuits appeared to be. Immediately Celestia pulled out a black one piece embedded with lace, and she checked the tag. “Found one,” she announced proudly.

                “Already!?” Junko gasped from the ‘new arrivals’ rack, and turned to look at it. Her smile fell into a sneer. “Oh, that one? That’s a little like… I don’t know, a little too goth lolita? I mean, look at the buttons. They have a gothic feel but the skirt-like white lace is like loli-maid combo. It’s just trying way too hard to say ‘I swear I’m classy and not still in my scene phase!’ I don’t know, goth lolita… that’s…”

                Celestia gave her a glare.

                “…that’s just _perfect_ for you!” Junko beamed. Celestia smiled and addressed the cashier to lead her to the dressing rooms. Aoi watched her gracefully stride to the rooms and sighed.

                “She’s like a queen,” Aoi commented under her breath. Sayaka stood next to her and smiled.

                “She is quite proper, isn’t she? She must truly be a lady,” Sayaka added. Junko whistled loudly and pulled out a polka-dotted two piece, and held it up.

                “I found one!” she exclaimed. Mukuro furrowed her brows.

                “That’s way too big for you, Junks.”

                “It’s not for me, it’s for Sakura!” she announced, waving it at Sakura. She walked over and observed it, and blinked in confusion.

                “You want me to… try this on?” Sakura questioned, bewildered. Junko rolled her eyes.

                “No, I want you to burn it. Yes! I want you to try it on! Now go and try it!” she encouraged Sakura and smacked her behind as she walked to the rooms. They heard a voice from somewhere in the store. “Excuse me, I finished trying on my swimsuit!”

                The girls rushed over to see Celestia, who was posing confidently in her swimsuit. Everyone’s jaw dropped.

                “Damn, you look like a ghost,” Junko said, grinning. Celestia frowned.

                “Thanks.”

                “You look so beautiful, Celestia!” Sayaka complimented! She was showered in compliments from Mukuro and Sayaka, and even received many positive comments from Sakura, who walked into the dressing room next to her. Sayaka clasped her hands in anticipation.

                “I’m sure she’s going to be beautiful!” she chirped, and Aoi nodded.

                “Sakura is lovely no matter what she wears. She could wear acid-washed high waters and still be a gorgeous muscle queen.”

                Junko made an impressed expression and nodded as well before heading back out to the rest of the store to find a swimsuit for herself. Mukuro followed behind her as well as Kirigiri. Within just a few very long minutes, Sakura stepped out in her red bikini decorated with white polka-dots, and smiled awkwardly. Aoi and Sayaka gasped, and Celestia sighed happily.

                “Sakura, you are simply a vision,” Celestia complimented, smiling sincerely. Sakura turned around to show the back. Aoi applauded.

                “You look amazing! Just what I expected!” she cheered. Junko dragged Mukuro along with her to see.

                “I knew it would be perfect! Red is an awesome color on you! See, don’t I do a great job? I should just pick everyone’s wardrobes for the rest of the year!” she bragged, dancing around Sakura.

                “If you can pay for it, then sure,” Kirigiri said. The girls shared a laugh and continued searching in the store. Aoi helped Sakura hang the two-piece back up and waited for her.

                “Are you sure you just want to lifeguard the party? You won’t be able to dance and have fun with all the other students,” Sakura stated from the changing room. Aoi leaned on the door from the outside, and shrugged.

                “It doesn’t matter too much to me, really! I’m not too big on parties, just as long as everyone is together. Besides, if I’m on the deck too long, I’ll just swim and eat anyway. I probably wouldn’t talk to anyone on my own other than you, Sakura.”

                “Well it sure seems like someone likes to talk to you,” Sakura retorted with a matter-of-fact tone as she exited the room. Aoi furrowed her brows.

                “What does that mean?” she questioned as she saw a small smile form on Sakura’s lips.

                “It may be too early to make any assumptions,” she uttered before walking away. Aoi fumed and stomped her foot, waving her arms.

                “You can’t just leave me hanging like that!”

                It wasn’t long before all the girls found the swim suits and goods they wanted. They walked out the store, confidently strutting to the van. Many passerby men and women gave interested glances  at all of them. Junko raised her arms.

                “I could do this every day!” Junko cheered. Mukuro piped in.

                “Yes, spending half our month’s spending on one store is _definitely_ something we can do every day.”

                Junko pouted at her sister and strutted to the side door of the van, holding her shopping bags. “Excuse me that the store we went to happened to carry the best bikinis and wedges I’ve seen in months,” she grumbled. Everyone got themselves into the van in their designated spots, and Aoi sat in her seat, troubled. _What could Sakura mean by that? I do talk to Chihiro a lot but they’re just really easy to talk to…_ Aoi felt this was going to bother her for weeks. The van was silent until Junko turned back to Sayaka.

                “Hey, didn’t you know Naegi in junior high?” she interrogated. Sayaka cocked her head to the side at such a random question, then raised her brows.

                “Yeah! I did! He was in maybe, two of my classes? We didn’t talk too much, I think he was really shy,” she answered with a sweet smile. Celestia raised a brow.

                “He probably was interested in you,” she said, “It’s pretty obvious he still remains interested.” Kirigiri turned to Celestia after that comment, listening in. Sayaka giggled and waved Celestia off.

                “Oh no, I could imagine having a pop star in your class can be intimidating. Although I will admit Naegi is a sweetheart, I couldn’t see myself _with_ him.”

                “Yeah, he still looks like he’s twelve,” Junko added. Most of the girls with the exception of Kirigiri and Mukuro who was focused on the road began cackling.

                “Yes, he is a little boyish, I suppose!” Sayaka exclaimed. “Anyway, I have a good feeling he’s more into girls that are not as open as I am. He’s pretty smart, I think he prefers a challenge.”

                “Well, I’ll take your word for it,” Junko said with a wink. “You know him better than any of us do. Although I swear I saw you flirting on the first day!” she accused.

                “I will admit I had a little fun that day, but he and I have talked too much and too long since that day for a romance to grow. We became too buddy-buddy, you know?”

                Kirigiri appeared to relax in her seat a bit, and went back to staring out the window. Aoi turned to Junko and Sayaka and started snickering.

                “Since you said he looks like he’s twelve I’m never going to _not_ see it,” she admitted, letting out a laugh. Junko grinned.

                “Yeah, but you’ve been hanging out with the guy that’s like twelve- _hundred_!” she exclaimed.

                “He doesn’t look too old, does he?” Celestia asked. “How old is he? Eighteen? I thought he was barely older than us?”

                “He’s twenty,” added Sakura. Junko covered her mouth in surprise.

                “Damn, someone wasn’t good at math,” she mumbled. Mukuro hushed her and Junko rolled her eyes. Before long the van pulled into the parking lot, and the girls got out. Junko turned to all of them before they began walking to the building.

                “Girls, before we walk inside, I’m just glad to say that it was an honor shopping with all of you,” she stated while proudly holding her bags up. The girls all thanked her and patted her head and hugged her before they all strutted in the main holiday with confidence. A few of the boys watched in awe as they glided down the halls, smiling and excited. Sakura turned to Aoi and whispered, “Could you do my make-up for the party?”

                Aoi’s gaze shot up at her, stunned. “You want… make-up? You want _me_ to do it?” she asked for reassurance. Sakura nodded. The swimmer jumped and clapped excitedly. As the girls dispersed into their rooms, Aoi danced to her room with Sakura behind her. She heard a small growl come from her stomach, and she rubbed it. Then Aoi gasped and turned to Sakura.

                “Shit, your bag!” she shouted, and Sakura held it up, with a raised brow.

                “Hungry?” she asked. Aoi nodded.

                The two set the athletic bag on Aoi’s comforter, and opened it. Aoi saw numerous subway sandwiches. She gave a questioning look to Sakura.

                “Mukuro got the sandwiches right after breakfast and told me to pack these when she came back,” she stated. “You would have known if you didn’t have a food coma in the laundry room.”

                “How’d you know!?”

                Sakura shot her a look. Aoi opened the wrapping on the first sandwich she found and smiled cheekily. “I guess now we can dig in!” She chirped as she took a bite. She chewed happily with her cheeks completely filled, and Sakura dug into the bag looking for a specific sandwich. As she pulled it out, she noticed Aoi was already done. Sakura blinked.

                “You know, if I wasn’t with you all the time I’d actually be impressed,” Sakura said, unwrapping her sandwich. Aoi reached into the bag and grabbed another one.

                “That is a sign that we have become best friends, Sakura.”

                “Well, cheers,” she replied, holding up her sandwich. Asahina held up her sandwich and bumped it against Sakura’s.

                “To our friendship, tonight’s party, and our last year of high school!” Aoi exclaimed. Sakura smiled.

                “Cheers.”


	4. Awkward School Days: Part Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The party is just about to kick off and Aoi and her friends are stoked to have a fun night to remember! Little did they know that tonight was definitely going to be a night to remember for a very different reason...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, what a long chapter. But I made it! Anyway, thanks again for continuing to read!

                As the time for the party became closer, Aoi was changing in her bathroom into her red lifeguard swimsuit, adjusting the straps for necessary support. She decided to reach for her waterproof eyeliner pencil, debating whether or not to put it on. She shrugged, _might as well._ As she applied it, her hand nervously shook. She frowned as she finished her left eye.

                “I swear I better get the other eye right,” Aoi grumbled.

                She applied the eyeliner onto her right eye, trying to mirror the shape and wing of the left eye. When she finished, she pulled back and stood up straight, looking in the mirror. She groaned, exasperated. The wings were slightly crooked, and she threw the eyeliner pencil at the sink with a “myeh” sound and stole a glance at her modestly small make-up bag. She dug in and found a natural pink lip gloss, and smiled. Aoi walked out of her bathroom as she applied the lip gloss, looking at the time on her phone. It was an hour before dinnertime. She looked in the mirror one more time and smiled brightly. Aoi put on her flip-flops, hung her goggles around her neck like a necklace, and grabbed her white towel. Swiftly, she flung it onto her shoulder, and she exited her room into the hall. Standing in the hallway was Ishimaru, wearing blue Hawaiian board shorts and a white t-shirt. He turned around, and smiled at Aoi.

                “Asahina!” he greeted with a bow, “You look absolutely appropriate for a pool party! I assume the shopping with your friends went as well as you planned?”

                “Actually, I already had this swimsuit,” she replied with a smile. He appeared amazed.

                “You brought an extra swimsuit? How resourceful of you! Your parents must be proud of how responsible you are!”

                She seemed to forget how kind Ishimaru was capable of being. Aoi bowed her head bashfully, “Thank you, I see you are dressed for a pool party too!”

                He folded his arms and let out a laugh. “Yes, I understand my bottoms are not the most hydrodynamic, but they are perfect for a laid-back and fun environment! I can’t wait to have fun with all my friends!” he exclaimed with a sense of pride. Aoi shared his smile; it was surprisingly contagious.

                “You seem very excited, Ishimaru!”

                “Yes,” he affirmed, “I am looking forward to seeing all the students gather for a fun time! It’s a good way to keep everyone supervised and have fun simultaneously! As long as it is safe and under control, I am more than happy to be a part of it,” he finished with a softer tone. Aoi blinked.

                “What’s wrong?” she asked. He gave her a soft smile.

                “It’s just,” he paused, “I’ve never been invited to a party before,” he admitted, rubbing his head. She smiled and patted his shoulder.

                “Then let’s have extra fun tonight!” she encouraged. He beamed in enthusiasm, and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

                “Yes, we will have more fun tonight than we ever had in our lives! With my friends!” he announced loudly, letting out a satisfied laugh. After more small talk, Ishimaru said goodbye until dinnertime. He wanted to finish decorating the pool deck with Mondo and Leon. Aoi sent him off with a very wide grin. For whatever reason, she found Ishimaru’s vulnerability very moving. _I wonder how many students here… never had many friends?_

                Now that she was excited, she ran back to her room to grab her make-up bag for Sakura and ran out. She danced over to Sakura’s room, and knocked with a rhythm. Sakura opened the door in her two-piece, still looking slightly bashful. Aoi squealed.

                “You look so cute in your bikini, Sakura!” Aoi complimented. Sakura looked down and covered her face.

                “Do I really?”

                “Duh! If you looked ugly when you tried it on, I wouldn’t have let you buy it!” Aoi retorted with cheeky grin. Sakura uncovered her face and let her in, then closed the door behind her. On Sakura’s desk were numerous flowers with hairclips attached. Aoi gasped.

                “Where did you get all of these?!” she shouted as she ran over to the desk. Sakura walked next to her and picked up a white lily, examining it.

                “Junko dropped these off and recommended I wear one to the party. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if you wore one,” Sakura answered calmly and she clipped the lily to hold her hair back behind her left ear. Aoi cheered and picked up a daisy before she clipped it over her right ear, and the two looked in the mirror, smiling.

                “Ready for make-up?” Aoi asked. Sakura exhaled and nodded. Sakura sat on her bed with her legs crossed, and Aoi sat across from her in the same position, digging into her bag. She pulled out the eyeliner and outlined Sakura’s eyes to the best of her ability. “You want wings?” Sakura smiled and nodded excitedly. When Aoi finished, she pulled out the different shades of lip gloss she had.

                “I have a light pink, a natural pink, a dark pink, a burgundy, and if you’re feeling dangerous…” she trailed off, taking a lipstick out, “I have _red lipstick_.”

                With a gasp, Sakura marveled. “Red? How would that look?”

                “Mah-vulous,” Aoi answered with a low voice. Sakura giggled and gently grabbed it from Aoi’s hand and applied it. She rubbed her lips together then smiled, and Aoi clapped.

                “Mah-vulous! Simply mah-vulous!” she chirped, and Sakura got off the bed to rush to the mirror with a brilliant smile.

                “Thank you Aoi,” she thanked giddily. Aoi held a thumbs-up as she rolled off the bed, grabbing her towel.

                “I’m sorry I don’t have that much make-up, and I’m really not the best at applying it,” she apologized. Sakura brushed it off.

                “No, you did wonderfully. I’m just happy with how I look! I feel very pretty,” she complimented. Aoi was refreshed with watching Sakura looking at herself. She was smiling, and fixing her hair, and posing. She looked confident, and that made the swimmer happy.

                “Ready to head to the cafeteria? Dinner starts in half an hour!” she said, and Sakura nodded before grabbing a beach towel with palm trees all over it. Sakura wrapped it around her waist.

                The two girls walked out with a new glow about them, and saw Chihiro walking in the hall. Chihiro was in short swimming jammers and a graphic t-shirt. It looked like a SpongeBob t-shirt. Aoi jumped up and down, her goggles bouncing with her.

                “Chihiro! Hey Chihiro!” she greeted excitedly. Chihiro turned around, their sandals clunked along with each step they took. Chihiro smiled and waved shyly.

                “Hello Sakura and Aoi, you both look so pretty,” Chihiro complimented. Aoi melted at the sweetness in their voice. Sakura gently patted their head.

                “You are very pretty too, as usual,” Sakura commented in return. Aoi raised her brows.

                “Hey Chihiro, why aren’t you in a cute swimsuit? I was expecting a little skirt or cute little one piece or something!”

                “Oh,” Chihiro uttered softly, “I can’t find any I like in m-my size.” Aoi nodded.

                “Yeah, I can understand there!” she patted her own butt with a laugh. Chihiro gently shared her laugh.

                “Anyhow, let us not waste time. We should eat with enough time to let it settle before we swim,” Sakura suggested. Aoi agreed and the three walked to the cafeteria, where Ishimaru was eating a salad. He waved at the group and stood up.

                “Good evening, ladies!” he greeted. Sakura nodded at him and Chihiro waved. Aoi smiled.

                “A salad?” she guessed from afar. He looked down and smiled back at them.

                “Yes! A light but nutritious dinner is ideal for the body’s preparation for a party!” he explained, sitting back down to eat. Chihiro turned to Aoi and Sakura.

                “He seems very happy.”

                “He is,” Aoi assured with a smile. They gathered at the buffet, and before Aoi reached for the steak, Sakura grabbed her wrist.

                “Not before you’re swimming,” she insisted, “Please eat something lighter.”

                Asahina grumbled as she reached for a banana, and looking at all the food she _could_ be eating. She grabbed a small chicken leg, and helped herself to a portion of salad before sitting with Sakura. Chihiro sat across from them and picked at their grapes slowly. Aoi viciously wolfed down the salad and gnawed on the chicken within thirty seconds. Sakura continued to eat her salad calmly. Chihiro watched in horrified awe.

                “I don’t think I could ever get used to that,” Chihiro commented, trembling. They continued to eat as more students entered the cafeteria. Mondo greeted Ishimaru with a high five, and the two stood at the front of the cafeteria, excitedly chattering about dancing and swimming in the pool. Leon entered with Sayaka, and he seemed to be interested in hearing about her music career. Junko and Mukuro walked over to Aoi’s table and the sister sat in the empty seats next to Chihiro.

                “Hey girls! Excited for the party!?” Junko enthused, peeling an orange. Mukuro took a bite out of a tuna sandwich. Junko’s bikini was a white plaid pattern, and her silver hoops definitely gave a “ready to party” vibe. Aoi nodded.

                “Yes! It’s going to be so much fun!” she answered, wiggling in her seat. Mukuro, who was in a wetsuit, rolled up her sleeves and took another bit of the sandwich. Junko gasped when she looked at Sakura.

                “Sakura! I almost didn’t recognize you! You look like a model! Well, not as much as me of course, but you still look so pretty! Oh my god, Mukuro look!”

                “I’m looking – “

                “Look harder!”

                As the two sisters bickered and showered Sakura in compliments, the fighter blushed as red as her swimsuit, and covered her face. Aoi patted Sakura’s back and she and Chihiro affirmed Junko and Mukuro’s compliments. Junko was about to keep talking and looked up abruptly.

                “Oop, your man is arriving. Don’t wanna cockblock – or clitblock in your case, I guess. It’s best me and Muko head out!”

                “Don’t call me that.”

                The sisters got up and walked over to Leon, Naegi, Kirigiri and Sayaka’s table, cheering and whooping in excitement. Aoi furrowed her brows in confusion.

                “Whose man?” she pointed at Chihiro, “your man?” Chihiro shrugged. Sakura shrugged as well. Aoi raised a brow. _Then who - ?_

“There you are!” a voice shouted from behind them. Hagakure sat next to Chihiro and smiled at all of them. “Wait, you don’t mind if I sit here, right? I just had something to tell you and – “

                “We don’t mind,” Sakura assured. He grinned and peeled his orange, then squirted the orange juice onto the mashed potatoes and added a good helping of Tobasco on top. He dug in hungrily and moaned happily from the great taste.

                “Wow, those are some delicious potatoes,” he commented, nodding. Chihiro frowned at him, disgusted, then turned to Sakura and Aoi. Both shrugged in unison.

                “Anyway, I think Morocco is sick. He might have eaten too much chocolate. I guess you were right Aoi, maybe lizards aren’t supposed to eat chocolate, poor guy might be having diarrhea or something. Oh, and I did check, he is in fact a boy – “

                “Can we change the subject?” Aoi interrupted, “Like, as soon as possible?” He grinned and laughed loudly, pouring some of his orange juice into his glass of milk and took a drink.

                “Yes!” He answered before taking an observant look at Aoi. He smiled softly at her. “You look very, uh… what’s that word… pre? Wait, no. Pur… punctual in your swimsuit,” he said.

                “Punctual?” Aoi asked, frowning.

                “N-no, I meant, uh, comely?”

                “What are you saying?”

                “Tasty?”

                “Are you kidding me!?”

                “What do you want me to say!?”

                “Oh my god, Hagakure!”

                “You just look good!” he blurted, getting a little frustrated with his inability to find the right word. Aoi blinked in shock from the sudden raise in volume. Chihiro patted his shoulder.

                “Maybe we can get you a thesaurus, Hagakure,” Chihiro suggested. Hagakure nodded in agreement, ashamedly picking at his potatoes. He looked at Sakura.

                “You look pretty too!” he complimented with ease. Aoi frowned. Sakura nodded and finished the last of her protein shake.

                “Thank you, you look good too. I’ve never seen your hair pulled back.”

                “Yeah, I usually pull it back for aquatic activities, or when I’m writing or whatever. Hair gets in the way a lot, y’know? I’m so glad I remembered to pack all my strong hairbands.”

                Aoi didn’t  even bother to notice he look much more cleaned up than he did earlier. His stubble was much cleaner, and it looked like he was wearing lotion. Her brow raised in both curiosity and confusion. That wasn’t really like him. Suddenly, she heard shushing in the cafeteria, and saw Mondo standing on top of a table, wearing an open Hawaiian shirt and a tiger print speedo. She stared in shock at his complete lack of modesty. Not that it was bad, it was just a little unexpected.

                “Ladies and gentlemen,” he greeted, then looked at Leon, “and weenies,” which received an offended “Hey!” from Leon. Mondo continued, “Tonight we are going to have a sweet rager to kick off the school year on a good note! And – “

                Everyone turned to the sound in the back of the gym, which was the door opening. Togami entered with only blue trunks and a towel around his shoulders. Fukawa followed behind, in a simple black one piece. He shot a glare at Mondo. “What!?” he snapped. Mondo folded his arms.

                “So, you decided to join us?” he questioned, the students turned to Togami in a beat. Togami took a step forward.

                “I hate to admit it, but I realized I had nothing better to do. I decided to watch you plankton attempt to throw what you call a ‘party’.”

                “Wow, what a charming guy,” Aoi muttered as she took a drink of milk. Togami scoffed at that comment.

                “You know, I don’t _have_ to ‘hang out’ with you commoners,” he spat. Mondo cracked his knuckles.

                “Well, no, you ain’t have to hang out with us. But you already said you was. And you seem like the kind a guy that doesn’t change his mind once it’s set.”

                Togami turned back to Mondo, sneering. After a moment he walked to the buffet, Fukawa being his shadow. Hagakure exhaled.

                “He’ll lighten up eventually,” he said with a breath. Aoi blinked and turned to him. Hagakure smiled, “I know he will.” Aoi made a puzzled expression, confused as to why Hagakure seemed so confident about it. Mondo continued with his speech.

                “Right, sorry about that interruption folks! Anyway the pool deck is just about ready! We’d like you all to start heading over at around 19:00? Got it? We need our lifeguard and DJ to make preparations! See you all there!” he announced, receiving some applause as he was still on the table.

                “ _Take your clothes off!_ ” Junko yelled from her table. Mukuro smacked the side of her head and Junko flinched. “Ow,” she whimpered, softly pushing Mukuro back. Mondo laughed and jumped off the table, heading in Aoi’s direction.

                “Hey, g-girls,” he greeted, slightly red. Chihiro smiled.

                “Need us to g-get ready?” Chihiro asked. Mondo nodded.

                “Yes, right now would be great!” he yelled at the top of his voice, then he covered his mouth. Aoi trembled in fear from his yelling. Chihiro looked like they were about to cry. He looked abosulutely terrifying when he was yelling. Mondo sighed and looked down.

                “I-I’m sorry, ya girls look so cute and… Shit, I’m nervous,” he admitted.

                “I’m cute too?” Hagakure posed with a peace sign. Mondo frowned at him, then laughed.

                “Nah, you’re just a dumbass!” he answered, than began walking away with Aoi and Chihiro. Hagakure stood up, offended.

                “Hey, I am _not_ a dumbass!” he shouted, offended. Mondo waved him off as he walked out. Aoi and Chihiro walked in unison out of the cafeteria with Mondo.

                “Okay, now that you girls are behind me and I can’t see you, I’m not so nervous!” he said with a laugh. “Anyway, we got the lifeguard tower set up for you, but if there’s any emergency, Leon found a spare in the pool deck’s storage room and set it up for ya, a’ight?”

                “Sounds good,” Aoi affirmed.

                “And for the little lady, we have the stereo system all hooked up! The sound system’s base is right in front of the bleachers. We thought it’d be best if it wasn’t too close to the pool, y’know? Don’t want your sweet little head all fried up n’ electrocuted!”

                Aoi caught Chihiro blushing subtly from the corner of her eye. “O-oh, good,” Chihiro said. Mondo continued.

                “We also installed one of those hella sweet mini-fridges just for ya, right next to the sound system. It just has a bunch a bottles of water, but it’s to keep you hydrated. Don’t want the DJ gettin’ all dehydrated n’ shit. I’ll be checking on ya regularly to see if you need anything. If it’s really important, just gimme a holla. It’s really no trouble for me. A’ight little lady?”

                Aoi noted the outstanding sense of organization Mondo had. It seemed he had everything planned down to the final detail. Leadership was probably a gift he was born with that made him such a great gang leader. _He probably knows how to handle the toughest and rowdiest crowds,_ Aoi thought to herself, impressed. _He’s probably more of a genius than he realizes._

                Mondo opened the door to the pool deck, and Aoi gasped in amazement. Blue and red streamers decorated the flag poles and wires above the pool, and streamers were coming down the ceiling. Balloons were tied on every possible object they could have been, and the colors ranged from bright pinks and yellows to deep indigos and violets. There was red carpet all around the area, except for the tile that immediately surrounded the pool. Aoi even caught the rainbow globe lights that hung from the ceiling. She pointed at it, curious.

                “What are those?”

                “Oh, those are kinda like disco balls, except they have their own light. And when it spins, the light comes out of the different colored holes. It’s fuckin’ cool with the lights turned off. For whatever reason they were already in here. Maybe the Hope’s Peak classes before us were huge party animals!”

                _Or Monobear knew we were planning this,_ Aoi thought to herself.

                “This looks so wonderful,” Chihiro marveled, walking onto the red carpet and looking at all the decorations. Mondo laughed happily.

                “I’m glad you like it, decorating was all Ishimaru’s idea. He seemed more excited about this party than I was! And the streamers on the ceiling, that was Leon’s idea. What we actually did was make a shitton a balls of tape, then just put a bunch of streamers on it, and then the weenie would just chuck ‘emat the ceiling! His arm is really somethin’, wouldn’t expect less from an elite baseball player like him, ya know?”

                Aoi nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I was wondering how you got those up there. That’s really neat! Now, should I head over to the lifeguard tower and stand guard?”

                “Yeah, probably a good idea, I gotta show Chihiro where all her stuff is,” he mumbled, shaking. Aoi gave him a look.

                “You okay, Mondo?”

                “Y-yeah, it’s just… I don’t do well around cute girls… I’ve never been good at talking to all you pretty ladies,” he softly admitted. He turned to Aoi.

                “You think I might scare her away or somethin’?” he asked, biting a nail. Aoi shook her head.

                “No, if you’re being as gentle as you are now with me, I don’t think you could scare Chihiro. She seems like a tough little cookie! Just be nice, Mondo! Talk about something nice like puppies or something.”

                “Dude, I fucking love puppies,” he replied with a smile. He patted Aoi’s shoulder. “Thanks for the tip,” he said before jogging over to Chihiro.

                “No running on the pool deck Mondo!” Aoi yelled after him. He stopped abruptly and powerwalked over to Chihiro. Asahina sighed happily as she watched the two awkwardly interact. Aoi made way to the tower, and climbed up the steps of the ladder, and sat comfortably down. The seat was surprisingly soft to her, and she wiggled around to feel it some more.

                “Shit, I might get a wedgie,” she whispered out loud. On the chair handle was a whistle, and she picked it up and held it to her mouth, and blew. Mondo and Chihiro quickly focused their attention to Asahina, and she waved at them.

                “Just testing!” she yelled from her seat. Mondo waved back.

                “Sounds good to me!” he reassured, holding a thumbs-up.

                Before long, Chihiro got the music started, and it was upbeat pop music that had a techno kind of touch. Aoi danced a little in her seat, enjoying the beat. Mondo danced away from the sound system. Chihiro was wearing large headphones  to protect her ears. Ishimaru was the first student to enter, followed by Celestia and Yamada. Ishimaru immediately joined Mondo, and they seemed to be engaged in conversation. Yamada jumped into the pool with a cannonball, getting Celestia wet. She began yelling obscenities at him and clawing at the air while yelling at him.

                Eventually, Ishimaru ran over and calmed her down, and she made way to the table to help herself to some punch once she calmed down. The next to enter was Naegi, and he brought some tubes and noodles. Kirigiri followed behind him, carrying more tubes and noodles. Aoi smiled at the tubes, mentally taking note to get her hands on the pink one. Junko strutted in with Mukuro and Sakura, and greeted everyone excitedly. Junko and Sakura started to dance to the music, and Mondo and Ishimaru joined them. Aoi smiled and laughed. None of them were particularly good dancers. In reality, it just looked like a bunch of people who thought they could dance but really couldn’t. Ishimaru was trying to do some robotic kind of dance, and Asahina laughed from her seat. If only he knew how silly he looked. Mukuro joined Celestia at the table, and they appeared to have a very calm conversation, pointing at decorations and the like.

                Sayaka and Leon were next, waving at everyone and cheering. They joined the group of dancers, and Leon began to start a pit. Aoi watched his dancing technique; it was flailing but with much more dramatic movements. It looked very controlled and powerful. He head banged as hard as he could before he started jumping around and just kicking the air. Aoi assumed this was the art of a dance form called “moshing”. Naegi jumped into the pool and started splashing Yamada, and they started throwing tubes and noodles at each other, declaring a water war. Mondo and Ishimaru jumped in, swimming and grabbing hold of the noodles.

                “FOR NARNIA!!” Mondo shouted, swimming at Yamada, then climbing on him. “RIDE, MY STEED!” Yamada tried to shake him off, splashing around and struggling to stay afloat. Aoi blew her whistle.

                “No drowning people in my pool, Mondo!” she commanded, pointing at him. He got off Yamada and just hit him on the head with a noodle. Yamada splashed him, and everything seemed to be back to normal. Sayaka and Kirigiri jumped into the water, swimming over to Naegi and floating around, just talking. Leon ran and flipped in, and Aoi blew her whistle again.

                “No flips! You could slip and really hurt yourself you dummy!” she enforced. Leon held a thumbs-up to acknowledge her. Junko and Sakura joined the rest in the pool and they gathered at the shallow end. Togami and Fukawa entered the pool deck, looking around. Aoi looked at Togami carefully, noting that his face lacked the usual unimpressed expression. He actually looked pleased with Ishimaru, Mondo and Leon’s work around the deck. He made way to the punch table, and appeared to be talking to Celestia and Mukuro. They didn’t look too annoyed, so Aoi assumed he wasn’t being as jerky as he usually was. She even noticed Fukawa talking a little bit. Before she knew it, she heard a loud dragging sound and noticed and identical lifeguard tower next to hers. She looked down to see Leon climbing up, panting and drenched. He flipped his hair back once he seated himself, and turned to Aoi.

                “You okay up here by yourself?” he asked over the music. Aoi nodded.

                “Yeah, it’s nice seeing everyone have fun!” she replied. He grinned, then poked his ear piercings in thought.

                “Hey,” Leon paused, “What do you think of me being a musician?” Aoi cocked her head at the random question. She shrugged.

                “Well, do you play anything?”

                “I play guitar, and I sing a lil’ bit. I even took a few vocal lessons from this pretty good instructor back at my hometown. I really like music, y’know? It just really fuckin’ gets you. And I like making music. I like making the shit that makes people feel things. It’s always been my dream. But baseball kinda gets in the way. I’m sure ya understand, being an athlete too an’ all,” he added. Aoi made a puzzled expression.

                “Don’t you like baseball, though? You’re the best baseball player this nation has under the age of eighteen!” she commented. He shrugged.

                “It’s really whatever, man. I like it and all, but it’s just I don’t feel like it’s my calling,” he looked at the pool, smiling at Sayaka splashing Naegi. Aoi noticed Hagakure sitting at the edge of the pool, and looked up and waved at her. She waved back. “Music is calling me,” he continued, smiling softly.

                “That’s pretty brave of you, trying to drop such a high reputation in baseball to be a musician! I’m guessing you’re into rock music?”

                “Yeah, I figured it’s pretty easy to guess,” he said with a laugh. “I talked to Sayaka all about it, and she told me that I should just follow my dreams. She said she believed in me and all, which really got my spirits going. She’s a real sweetheart she is,” he continued, looking back at the pool.

                “Then do it! Follow your dreams! It looks like you got support from your friends, right?”

He turned to Aoi and smiled. “Yeah, that’s the best shit any aspiring rock star can ask for! Thanks for talking to me, it made me feel a little better!” He began climbing down, then looked back up at her. “I’m going back into the pool. Now, are you sure you wanna stay up here all alone? We can send one of the girls up here to talk to you or whatever. Or I’m sure Ishimaru would be more than fuckin’ happy to take a shift. You know how he gets all wet over enforcing rules.”

                “I really didn’t need that visual, Leon.”

                “Yeah, yeah, okay, I got it. I’m outta here,” he goodbye-d, climbing down the lifeguard tower and walking across the deck to a door. Aoi raised a brow and wondered what he was doing. He left the door open as he walked out. It seemed to be another door to the hallway. She shrugged, turning back to the students in the pool. They were having chicken fights, and Aoi watched closely. Junko was on Sakura’s shoulders while Kirigiri was on Mondo’s shoulders. They came in contact, and wrestled each other, laughing and shoving to the best of their ability. Aoi smiled, rooting from her lifeguard post. She rooted for both girls, thinking that she’d be fine with either of them winning. Soon enough, Ishimaru swam over to Asahina, waving her down and gesturing for her to climb down. She followed suit, and stood at the edge of the pool.

               “This is the most fun I’ve ever had in my life!” he exclaimed, waving his arms excitedly, “However, it is not fair that you can’t have a helping of fun yourself. It is my duty as a good student and hall monitor to make sure that all of my peers participate in class activities! That includes parties!” He held his hand out to Asahina.

               Aoi helped him out of the pool and grinned. “Thank you so much, that’s really generous of you,” she thanked. He raised a hand and waved her off.

               “No need to thank me, you’re my friend as well as peer. Now go have fun! My intuition tells me you’re eager to get into the water!”

               “Yes she is!” a voice piped up from behind them. They turned around to see Monobear in a hula skirt, dancing around to the music. Aoi and Ishimaru widened their eyes in surprise.

               “Upupupu! Why didn’t you invite your own headmaster to a school party? I can dance pretty good!” he exclaimed, moving around. Aoi laughed nervously.

               “Well, this is kind of just for the students,” she added, scratching her head. Monobear laughed to himself.

               “I see! You don’t want any old folks around like me! Upupupu! It’s fine, you’ll see plenty of me during the school year!” Monobear sang, dancing away. Ishimaru bowed as Monobear exited, then turned back to Asahina.

               “Right, back to this! I will gladly take your shift!” he repeated, climbing up the lifeguard tower.

               “Thanks, Ishimaru!”  Aoi grinned and adjusted the goggles to her eyes. She walked to the deep end, and prepared to dive. She pounced into the water, arms locked in a streamline. She felt the water surround and dance around her as she dolphin kicked to the surface, resurfacing for a fresh intake of air. Aoi smiled, loving the feeling of the water around her; she inhaled the salty, familiar scent of chlorine. She quickly swam over to her friends in the shallow end, who were organizing the next chicken fight. The students cheered when Aoi swam over. She stood in the water that barely came up to her tummy.

               “Glad you could join us!” Junko greeted, wrapping an arm around her. Yamada clasped his hands.

               “Excellent, a new challenger approaches,” he announced excitedly, pushing up his glasses. Hagakure stood forward, raising his hand.

               “I’ll carry Asahina this round,” he volunteered with a grin. Mondo splashed him.

               “Oh _now_ you wanna play, eh? What happened to ‘I don’t believe in violence’?”

               “The spirits just whispered to me that I will have great luck if I join in on your activities,” he answered Mondo, giving him a creepy look. Mondo cringed.

               “Okay, you and swimmer girl. Who else volunteers?”

               “I’ll try a round,” announced a different voice. It was Togami, who walked down the pool steps with Fukawa right behind him. He stretched out his arms and dunked his hair in the water, then flipped it back. Everyone went silent upon this sight. Junko whispered a small “damn” as he walked over, folding his arms. Mondo blinked for a few moments and nodded.

               “Okay, you and Fukawa I assume?” he asked, cracking his knuckles. Togami nodded, and gestured her to climb on him.

               “Come along, now. Don’t be slow,” Togami ordered. Fukawa complied immediately scrambling to get on top of him.

               “That’s the only time she’s ever gonna top anybody,” whispers Junko to Aoi. Aoi snorted and cackled, holding her stomach as she laughed. Togami frowned at the two.

               “What’s so funny?”

                Aoi prepared to climb onto Hagakure’s shoulder, but smirked at Togami first.

               “Your face is pretty funny,” she said, sticking her tongue out. “Your face is also a little creepy,” added Aoi under her breath. Fukawa growled at her and trembled.

               “Y-you are s-so dead!” she hissed. Mondo looked between the two girls.

               “Hmm. This is gonna be a good match.”

                Aoi climbed onto Hagakure, moving his dreadlock ponytail to the side, and felt things poking her. She looked down and observed his upper body.

               “Wow you’re really hairy, don’t you shave ever?” she asked, looking down. He shook his head.

               “Nah, not really. Well, just my face. Gotta stay handsome. Besides, I wasn’t anticipating a girl being on top of me anytime soon. It feels pretty nice though, since you’re so squishy – “

                She bonked him on his head and he cleared his throat. “Right, I should stop talking. Okay, let’s get this match started!”

                Aoi tossed Mondo her whistle, and he took it in his hand, and blew it. Fukawa and Aoi made war battles cries and threw their arms at each other, slapping and clawing. Hagakure almost lost his balance a few times, and Togami seemed to stand strong without even budging.

               “Don’t you ever call B-Byakuya ugly you s-stupid fatass!” Fukawa insulted through her teeth. Aoi gasped in shock, extremely insulted.

               “Oh shit, she’s dead,” Junko muttered, covering her mouth.

               “Who you callin’ a fatass, bitch!?” Aoi shouted, offended. She pounced off Hagakure and tackled Fukawa and Togami to the water, screaming. Togami dispersed himself away from the girls as they pulled and shoved at each other underwater. Naegi swam over and split them up, and Aoi huffed and puffed. Fukawa resurfaced, standing up and flipping her hair out of her face. She was panting, glaring at Aoi.

               “You two might need to just calm down a little, these chicken fights are supposed to be for fun,” Naegi said, looking at both of them. “Now, apologize to each other.” Aoi rolled her eyes, but exhaled.

               “I’m sorry,” Aoi started, “I’m sorry for calling you a bitch… and for calling Togami ugly.”

               Fukawa looked back at Togami who nodded in return. Fukawa looked back at Aoi.

               “I-I forgive you, and s-so does Byakuya… and I’m sorry for calling you a f-fatass,” she apologized. Aoi folded her arms.

               “I forgive you,” she replied. Aoi exhaled, then her attention focused somewhere else. It was Leon who carried in a huge donkey-shaped piñata, and he was cheering.

               “It’s time for… _piñataaaa!!”_ shouted Leon, grabbing the attention of everyone in the gym. Everyone in the water rushed out and scattered for their towels, drying themselves off. Sakura walked up next to Aoi, drying her hair.

               “You were so vicious in attacking her, you almost paralleled me when I’m in a duel,” Sakura complimented. Aoi’s eyes twinkled.

               “You really think so?”

               “Think so? I know so,” Sakura answered confidently before walking with Aoi over to where the boys were setting up the piñata. Mondo pulled Chihiro over from the sound system after Chihiro made a set playlist to keep playing while she was away. Mukuro and Celestia made their way to the gang, interested in the piñata as well. Ishimaru climbed down the lifeguard tower and briskly walked over the join the group. Soon enough, Mondo grabbed a baseball bat from under a table once the piñata was hung up, and handed it to Chihiro.

               “Shortest to tallest! Sounds fair, right?” he announced with a grin. Everyone agreed, excited to begin. Mondo placed a bandana over Chihiro’s eyes and turned them around three times, he then led Chihiro to the piñata, and Chihiro felt around, then nodded. Mondo motioned for everyone to stand back, and Chihiro starting swinging at it, and swung with all their might. Aoi cheered and jumped for Chihiro.

               “Come on Chihiro! Get that piñata!” she cheered. Sakura joined in with her, and soon everyone was joining in, but Chihiro kept missing as they swung around. Mondo slowly stepped in.

               “Okay, okay, calm down there little lady, we don’t want ya hurtin’ nobody!” he cooed gently. Chihiro took off the bandana and fixed their hair. Mondo softly smiled at Chihiro and took the bat. “Naegi, you’re up!”

               “Shouldn’t Aoi go next?” he suggested, turning a little red. Mondo shook his head.

               “Nope. It’s you, Shorty. Get your lil’ butt over here and get ready to swing!” Mondo encouraged. The students clapped and cheered.

               “Woo! Go Naegi!” Kirigiri cheered, then cleared her throat and toned down her excitement. Sayaka clapped loudly, shouting words of encouragement as the blindfolded student starting swinging at the piñata, hitting it in the head and leg a few times. Mondo stepped in again.

               “Whew, okay, you’re a real nut, Shorty. Those were some good hits! A’ight, now it’s the lifeguard! C’mon in Aoi!” Mondo invited, and she complied. He placed the bandana over her eyes and tied tightly. She felt the bat being placed in her hands, and she was gently guided to the piñata. Her bat poked the piñata a few times, and she got a good sense of its location. With a battle cry, she swung with all her might at the piñata, and she heard something break. The students went wild as she heard pieces of candy drop, and she swung again. She felt no pressure in her swing; she assumed she missed. She kept swinging, hoping for another hit. Soon enough she heard a voice calming her down, and she removed the headband, looking up to see the piñata missing a leg. Mondo grinned.

               “Nicely done, Asahina! Good way to start us off with the piñata!” he complimented. She thanked him and went back to where she was standing. Fukawa and Celestia faced the piñata to no avail. Sayaka hit the tail off which received a lot of enthusiasm from Leon. He congratulated her and gave her a high-five. Kirigiri hit the piñata a few times, but did no real damage. Junko faced the piñata but accidently hit Mondo in the leg when he tried to stop her from swinging like a maniac. When she stopped because she heard his sudden cry of agony, she freaked out and rushed to him. Mondo was on the floor, holding his thigh in pain.

               “Just get me some ice, I’ve had a lot worse,” he reassured.

               After Mondo got ice on his leg, the piñata beating continued. Yamada left a good dent in the piñata, but failed in opening it. Everyone backed up an extra step for Leon, who stood in his average baseball stance. He tapped the tip of the baseball bat on his heel, tapping the dirt off the cleats he regularly would be wearing. He swayed the bat, mentally preparing himself. With one swing, he knocked the entire piñata off the string, and an explosion of candy poured all over the floor. The students jumped and cheered, congratulating him. Yamada hoarded a huge pile of candy, but Hagakure tried to pick some pieces out of his pile.

               The party settled down after the piñata as everyone started cleaning up the tubes and noodles scattered everywhere. Ishimaru helped Mondo take down the streamers and balloons, and Chihiro and Yamada were gathering all the cords and wires together. After ten minutes of cleaning, everyone walked out into the halls, talking excitedly about the times they had and hopes of another pool party soon. Aoi grinned happily; the pool party had been a success. It was just as great as everyone expected it to be. Even the typically sour-faced Togami was in higher spirits and talked to Naegi and Kirigiri down the hall about how he would organize a future party, and even allowed Fukawa to give pointers and suggestions. Aoi was peacefully walking to her room until she heard a door slam open.

               “Oh my god!” Sayaka exclaimed, everyone in the hall turning to hear. She was holding a piece of paper. Everyone stared in confusion. “A love letter!” she shouted, looking at everyone, then back at the paper. The entire class was shocked.

               “ _Ladies and gentlemen, a crime has been committed! Investigation time starts now!_ ”


	5. Awkward School Days: Investigaion, Start!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is shocked at Sayaka's discovery, and cringing in embarrassment for the writer of the love letter. Kirigiri organizes search times to pick up clues, and Aoi finds some things that may be crucial in the trial!

Monobear danced down the hallway excitedly, still wearing the hula skirt. The students stared at him, weirded out. “Upupupu!” Monobear began, “One of you isn’t very creative! Using the first example I gave during my announcement? Shame on you!” he spat. The students still stared in confusion.

                “So you losers have about two hours to investigate around the school to find any clues for who the writer of the love letter could be, but once again, I must announce more rules!”

                Mondo groaned loudly. Some of the students followed suit right after him. Monobear held up his hands.

                “Settle down, settle down. Now, since Sayaka received the letter, she will not participate in the trial or investigation.”

                “ _What!?”_ the students shouted, and Monobear pulled out a horn and blew it for a few seconds. The students shut up immediately.

                “It’s to make it a little more fair for the culprit, besides, their embarrassing crush is going to be revealed whether they win or lose! And it’s the culprit against the rest of you. So having Sayaka sit out this round is only fair for them. Now, she is still able to receive the class prize, but that is only if the rest of you find the culprit!” Monobear announced. Kirigiri nodded.

                “Are we allowed to bring evidence to the trial?” she asked, stroking her chin. Monobear laughed.

                “Upupupu! Of course! Now the only piece of evidence that you will not have until the trial itself is the love letter. I know, that sounds a little unfair, so we’ll have Sayaka read it out loud to the rest of you!”

                Everyone turned to Sayaka with a beat. Sayaka cleared her throat, then looked at all the students, then to the letter.

                “ _Maizono Sayaka,_ ” she began, voice croaking. She cleared her throat again.

                _“Maizono Sayaka, a vision in my dreams,_

_Maizono Sayaka, my heart rips at the seams._

_A sweet face and smile, just like a doll,_

_I’m so glad you talk to me at all,_

_Hands soft like silk, hair long and smooth,_

_Will I ever gain courage to tell the truth?_

_Maizono Sayaka, a vision in my dreams,_

_Maizono Sayaka, my heart rips at the seams._

_We can be together, if you’d only press start!_

_Your smile rests in me, in a special part,_

_Your voice pierces my soul, like a very sweet dart,_

_So come rest where you belong, deep down in my heart.”_

                The class was silent, looking at each other’s faces as she finished the letter. Nobody said a word. Aoi turned to Sakura, shrugging. Sakura gave back an expression of cluelessness. Nobody rightly knew what to say. Well, almost nobody.

                “Oh god how embarrassing,” Junko commented, making a face, “if I wrote that, I’d be running out of here and never showing my face again.”

                “What kind of loser writes a letter and repeats some of the sentences they say!?” Mondo yelled angrily, “that’s not very romantic to me!”

                “I thought it was quite sweet,” Chihiro softly piped in, everyone turning to them. “They must really like being around you, Sayaka… I-I mean, even if y-you didn’t like them back, it’s still a very s-sweet gesture.” Everyone else nodded subtly, agreeing with Chihiro. Sayaka was as red as a beet, and she covered her face.

                “Now, Sayaka, come with me, you can wait in the lounge above the trial room. You can bring some movies while you wait for the students to finish their investigation,” Monobear encouraged. Sayaka nodded and rushed back into her room, walking out with a small CD binder, probably filled with DVDs. The rest of the students watched Monobear and Sayaka walk down the hall. Everyone received a notification on their phone. Aoi checked her phone and opened the message. The message read “Between dinnertime and the end of the party, the note was placed under Sayaka’s door!”

                “Well,” Kirigiri began, “It’s time to investigate. Mondo, Leon, and Ishimaru, please check for traces of paper anywhere in the cafeteria and in the rooms around it,”

                “Got it!” they all said in unison, walking to the cafeteria. Kirigiri pointed at another group of students.

                “Togami, Junko, Mukuro, Fukawa, Hagakure, and Naegi, I want you to search the pool deck. If you see anything, I want you to bring it back here,” she ordered. Togami was about to refuse but Naegi dragged him along muttering “just listen to her”. Kirigiri turned to Chihiro, Yamada, and Celestia.

                “Yamada, since you’re in charge of the trash compactor, I want you so search for any signs of the culprit throwing away any valuable evidence. Celestia and Chihiro, I want you two to gather alibis from the boys,” Kirigiri added. The three dispersed quickly, following Kirigiri’s instructions. Chihiro walked to the cafeteria, and Celestia followed the others to the pool deck. Kirigiri then turned to Aoi and Sakura.

                “We have the most crucial job in the group,” Kirigiri stated. Sakura and Aoi turned to each other, then back to her.

                “We are going to check the students’ rooms for clues. I will search around Sayaka’s, Ishimaru’s and Yamada’s. Sakura, you will search Mondo’s and Togami’s. Aoi, you will investigate Hagakure’s, Leon’s, and Naegi’s rooms.”

                The three girls dispersed, and began investigating. Aoi first went into Naegi’s room, which was the closest. It was very simple with not much decoration in it. She sniffed  the air and found the scent calming. _Must be the way he just smells_ , she thought to herself. She decided the best place to look would be the desk, and saw he started on the summer assignment. She picked his essay up and noticed it was covered in red ink marks. Her eyes widened.

                “Wow, that’s some editing,” she mumbled, turning the paper around. She noticed that the packet of lined paper that was on his desk was opened, probably for writing the essay. She almost walked away when she saw a small picture on his desk. It was a picture of Sayaka in her pop star uniform, and the picture was signed.

                “ _To Naegi, my dearest friend! <3 Sayaka”_ it read. She picked it up and thought it might be important. She scratched her head after looking around. Then she checked the garbage can next to his desk. Just a few pieces of Kleenex and the plastic wrapping from the red pen packet and the lined paper packet. Aoi also noticed multiple drafts of the summer assignment in Naegi’s basket, and she picked through them. They all seemed to just be homework.  She quickly grabbed the summer assignment that was on his desk as well, folding it and putting it in her pocket with the picture. She then made way to Leon’s room, and right as she walked in, an unfamiliar and putrid odor hit her nose. She covered her nose and walked in, seeing a little bit of a mess of clothes around his hamper.

                Curious, she walked around, trying to find the source of the smell before she opened the window. On his nightstand was a large bottle of Axe, and she frowned. _Wow, no big surprise,_ she thought. She opened the window, letting the room air out. Sakura walked in while Aoi was looking through the desk.

                “Any luck?” Aoi asked, turning to her. Sakura shook her head.

                “Nothing but pictures of motorcycles and Maltese puppies on Mondo’s desk, and Togami’s pens and paper seem to be untouched. Besides, I realized because you were with or supervising Mondo for the entirety of before and during the party, it couldn’t have been him,” Sakura said, covering her nose.

                “What is that ungodly smell?” Sakura asked. Aoi pointed at the Axe bottle.

                “Douchebaggery,” she answered, looking through Leon’s mess of papers on his desk. She checked the drawers and noticed his packet of black and red pens had been opened as well as his packet of notepaper. She looked through the papers on Leon’s desk, which mainly consisted of compositions to play on the guitar, and the summer assignment prompt. She checked the garbage can next to the desk and noticed it was empty. She frowned, assuming he was the type of person to throw things away once his room becomes overly piled with trash. _How unhygienic_ , she critiqued. Aoi sighed and walked out with Sakura, who followed her to Hagakure’s room. When they opened the door, a soothing aroma of incense filled their noses as they walked in. Aoi felt strangely calm in his room from the smooth scent. She turned to see Morocco in his cage under a lamp, resting peacefully. She walked over to the lizard and patted it’s head. It was surprisingly calm, almost cute in a weird way.

                Sakura searched Hagakure’s night stand for any traces as Aoi made way to the desk. He had a small stereo with an iPod dock, and a few pieces of paper with pens all over them placed on the surface. She moved all the different pens aside, and gasped at the papers she saw. They were all doodles of the other students, and a few of himself. She perused through the sheets of paper, smiling. “Sakura, look at this!” she said, looking back at her. Sakura walked over and her eyes widened at all the different caricatures. There were a few etches of Mondo in his ornate coat, in tough and strong-looking poses. Some were of Ishimaru, standing up straight and saluting. Some were of Leon and Yamada, laughing or sitting at a table. Other papers showed etches of the sisters bickering or sitting together. Two pictures were of Chihiro smiling and typing on their computer.

                “Look,” Aoi pointed at the bottom of each paper. Sakura glanced. All the papers had a date on them. Some of them were drawn throughout the week.

                Another pile of drawn-on papers were in his top drawer, and Sakura pointed at a few of the drawings.

                “It’s me!” she excitedly commented, looking at the doodles. They were mostly accurate; the drawings really captured everyone’s attitude. Sakura was posing in powerful stances, and there was even a doodle of her lifting weights. She giggled and skimmed through the rest of the papers as Aoi checked the garbage can which was only filled with chocolate bar wrappings. Sakura handed the papers to Aoi.

                “All of these were drawn yesterday and today,” she uttered with a small grin. Aoi took the stack curiously and skimmed through the papers. This stack of paper was entirely doodles of her. She felt her face get a little warm as she skimmed through, looking at all the different poses and expressions he drew her in. He drew her sitting at the table with Sakura and Chihiro, he drew her running, he drew her dancing, and he drew her in various styles of clothes. The last picture was one of him and her, when she was taking the hamper to the laundry room. In the drawing, Aoi was not looking at him, but at the hamper. She distinctly remembered that morning that as she walked to the laundry room, she didn’t once glance at him. But in the picture, he was surely looking at her. His smile was big and one of his hands was on his lizard, the other reaching out to her hamper to help. Aoi smiled softly at the picture, and put it in her pocket after setting the rest of the drawings down.

                “So there weren’t any pictures of Sayaka,” Aoi stated, still slightly dazed. Sakura shook her head. They heard the speakers ring overhead, then Monobear’s voice.

                “ _Everyone report to the elevator next to the cafeteria!_ ”

                Sakura and Aoi walked out of Hagakure’s room, then followed Kirigiri to the elevator where most of the other students waited. Togami turned to the girls, arms crossed.

                “Find anything useful?” he interrogated, his expression sour. Aoi put her hands on her hips.

                “As a matter of fact, I’m pretty sure we did!” she retorted back. Leon and Mondo walked out of the cafeteria with nothing, and Yamada came back with a few papers from the trash compactor. Kirigiri glanced at everyone before the elevator shaft opened, and everyone walked in behind her. Aoi felt the platform move and held Sakura’s shoulder. Sakura patted Aoi’s head.

                “It’s just an elevator,” she reassured her. Aoi nodded and looked around. She stole a glance at the fortune teller, who was sitting on the floor of the platform, still only in his flip flops and swim trunks. She looked back around to observe everyone else’s faces. Most of the students looked a little apprehensive and nervous, with the exception of Kirigiri and Celestia, who seemed to have mastered plastering indifference on their expressions. The door opened to show sixteen podiums all in a circle, waiting for them. A picture of where Sayaka would have stood rested behind a podium, and everyone walked out. Aoi looked up at Sakura and smiled.

                “Here goes,” she said, and the two walked in. The elevator closed behind them, and everyone found their designated podiums. Aoi was in between Mondo and Mukuro, and she fiddled with her fingers, awaiting further instruction from the headmaster.


	6. Awkward School Days: The Trial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trial has begun, and Aoi and her friends decided to all cooperate together to find the culprit! Unfortunately for Aoi, the students are having trouble putting all the pieces together. So she took it upon herself solve this case with everything she's got! Will she find out who did it?

                Monobear popped out from behind his designated chair that resembled a throne, and laughed loudly. The students watched him nervously.

                “Now, before we begin, I’d like to announce the prize that the class or culprit will win if they come on out victorious!” he announced, raising his arms. Togami sneered.

                “Yes, we know. The low amount of money and a free handout of a graduation,” he snapped, sliding up his glasses. Monobear crossed his head.

                “That’s not all,” he said, sitting back in his chair. “If the class wins, all of the students will receive front row seats to the Drink 182 concert!” Most of the students chatted excitedly. Junko cheered and clapped her hands.

                “We better find this loser!” she cheered, receiving a hush from Mukuro. Monobear continued.

                “If the culprit wins, they receive VIP tickets and backstage passes for themselves and a friend of their choice!”

                “Which in this case would be Sayaka,” Aoi added under her breath. The class gasped and looked around at each other, trying to figure out the culprit. Monobear continued.

                “And,” he paused, “if the culprit wins, there will be no more opportunities for the class to have any more student trials!” The students gasped, caught off guard.

                “Now, this is when the discussion begins! You can start on any subject you please, letter, possible suspects, location – anything! But once you’re sure of who it is, you will all vote using the buttons in front of you!” The students looked in front of themselves to see that their podiums had buttons that looked like them. Aoi poked the one that looked like her, smiling. _Kinda neat_ , she thought to herself.

                “Okay, discussion… Start!” Monobear announced, sitting back in his chair. The students looked at each other, not sure where to begin.

                “I believe we should start with who it _couldn’t_ be,” Mukuro said first, rolling up her sleeves. Kirigiri nodded, and Naegi agreed.

                “Good idea, let’s start with that!” Naegi affirmed with a smile.

                “Well,” Kirigiri began, “Let’s start off with all the girls. All the girls had one or more persons with them before dinnertime. I’m sure they can all vouch for each other.” Junko nodded.

                “That’s right, me and Muko – “

                “Don’t call me that – “

                “Me and _Mukuro_ were together the entire time before the party! So we can testify for each other, and I know you were getting ready with Sayaka in her room!” Junko pointed at Kirigiri, who nodded.

                “So we all assume that Sayaka and Kirigiri were together before dinnertime and the party?” Naegi asked everyone. Everyone nodded their heads.

                “Then there’s Celestia, but she arrived into the cafeteria with Yamada,” Sakura added. Heads turned to Celestia and Yamada, who nodded.

                “I awaited the mistress after I finished preparing myself,” Yamada explained. “I waited outside her room as I promised earlier today for her. From her room to the cafeteria, I can assure that she was with me, and we made no detours.”

                “That is all true,” Celestia added confidently. Sakura spoke up.

                “Aoi and I prepared together in my roon before we walked to dinner, and shortly met with Chihiro in the hall, and we weren’t separated until Mondo pulled them away for preparation for the party. Aoi can vouch for me, and Mukuro and Junko can vouch for me as well since they escorted me to the party from the cafeteria,” Sakura said confidently. Everyone turned to Fukawa, who was trembling.

                “I-I was with B-Byakuya for that whole period of time,” she stuttered out. Togami nodded.

                “Yes, it was horrid, but she is not lying,” he testified. Kirigiri nodded.

                “Now, was anyone watching the party? Did anyone watch everyone that came into the party? This is just to affirm that none of the girls at least did this.”

                Aoi raised her hand, smiling. “I was! I was lifeguarding, and I watched everyone come in. All the girls came in pairs with someone else, or came in a group. And none of the girls left,” Aoi added. Kirigiri made a very small smile at her, impressed.

                “Good, now we can move on to the boys,” she announced. “Did any of the boys arrive to the cafeteria in a pair? Other than Togami and Yamada,” she asked. Leon and Mondo raised their hands.

                “Okay, so for now we can assume it wasn’t either of you,” Kirigiri said, “This leaves Ishimaru, Hagakure, and Naegi that were alone in arriving into the cafeteria.”

                “I ran into Ishimaru about an hour before dinnertime,” Aoi declared. Ishimaru nodded.

                “Yes, and after we spoke, I immediately hurried to the pool deck to finish decorating with Mondo and Leon. Once they finished, I headed to the cafeteria. It took thirty minutes to complete the finishing touches of the decorations!” Ishimaru explained. Leon nodded.

                “That’s right, he was with us, but Mondo and I didn’t change yet, so we went back to our rooms and got dressed up.” Ishimaru nodded.

                “And after nearly thirty minutes was when Sakura and I finished getting ready, met Chihiro in the hall, and saw Ishimaru in the cafeteria! And if I’m correct, Kyouko and Sayaka were still in Sayaka’s room getting ready, meaning that if Ishimaru left a note, Sayaka would have made the discovery then! Because they came into the cafeteria after us,” Aoi finished. Ishimaru folded his arms confidently.

                “Excellent deduction, Aoi!” he complimented. Aoi bowed her head.

                “Thank you!”

                “So that leaves Naegi and Hagakure,” Mukuro said. Everyone turned to either of the two. Naegi raised his hands defensively, and laughed nervously.

                “I just got ready and headed into the cafeteria! I was right behind Sayaka and Kirigiri!” he claimed. Kirigiri stroked her chin.

                “I see, but we didn’t hear you,” she said, brow raised.

                “I walked into the cafeteria right after you two did,” he explained. Mondo shrugged.

                “Well, I did see you walk in soon after them, but that don’t mean you’re off the hook, Shorty!” he accused. Naegi raised his hands in defense.

                “Really, I didn’t do it!” he begged. Everyone was skeptical. Kirigiri broke the silence after a few uncomfortable moments.

                “Let’s move on to Hagakure,” she suggested. Everyone turned to him. He smiled at everyone.

                “Oh, well I think I was the last one into the cafeteria – besides Togami, of course!” he started after scratching his head. “Honestly I was just hanging out in my room for a bit, playing with Morocco and doodling and stuff. I lost track of the time, I was so into my work! So I tied my hair up, got dressed, and rushed over to meet you all for dinner! That’s when I walked in and sat with my friends!” he finished.

                “That’s a piss-poor excuse, Urchin,” Leon critiqued. Everyone nodded with Leon, agreeing that Hagakure’s story could have easily been a lie. Then Aoi spoke up, face slightly red.

                “Hagakure _was_ drawing,” she blurted uneasily. Everyone turned to her with a confused expression, wondering how she would have known. She pulled out the drawing of him and her together, and everyone ooh-ed and aah-ed at his drawing talent. Mondo looked close and pointed.

                “Hey! That’s you and Hagakure!” he identified. Aoi grinned.

                “Yes, he drew he and myself before we went to the laundry room,” she affirmed. Leon raised his brows.

                “B-but that was this morning! I saw you two! He mentioned something about feeling up your panties!” he pointed. Everyone gasped and whistled at Aoi and Hagakure. Hagakure laughed it off and Aoi groaned, hiding her embarrassed face.

                “Look, that’s not the point!” she yelled, redirecting everyone’s attention back to the case. “The point is, Hagakure had to have drawn this today along with several other drawings that he mark with today’s date!”

                “She’s right!” Hagakure agreed. Everyone turned to him in a beat.

                “It takes a lot of time to complete the drawings, they really took up my whole day! I started drawing right after I finished helping Aoi with her laundry,” he explained. Junko let out a small “oooh.”

                “So that’s what you meant about feeling up panties,” Junko clarified. Everyone else repeated her “oooh” and nodded. Hagakure laughed.

                “Of course! What else would I have been talking about?” he bragged, hands on hips. Chihiro blinked while poking her cheek.

                “Now that I think about it, it doesn’t make a-any sense if Hagakure wrote the letter,” Chihiro said, looking at everyone. Fukawa blinked, furrowing her brows.

                “What d-do you mean?”

                “Well, now that we have our main two suspects, and one of them is nearly proven innocent, I think we should move to the contents of the letter. Just to be s-sure,” Chihiro explained. Kirigiri turned to Monobear.

                “May we have the letter?” she requested. Monobear stood up and danced down his chair, jumping up to give it to Kirigiri.

                “Upupupu! Of course!” he expressed before climbing back to his throne.

“Odd, it’s all in red ink,” she commented quietly. Aoi noted what she said  in her mind, feeling that it was important. Kirigiri cleared her throat, then loudly reread the letter. At the end of reading it, she made a disgusted face and put it in her pocket. Aoi raised a brow, curious of Kirigiri’s odd behavior. Chihiro snapped a finger.

                “That line, ‘I’m glad you talk to me at all’, it wouldn’t make sense if it was Hagakure!” Chihiro declared. Everyone blinked and looked at each other. Kirigiri nodded in agreement.

                “That’s right,” she began, “we haven’t once seen Hagakure interact with Sayaka at all.”

                “Yeah, he’s too busy doing Aoi’s laundry!” Junko blurted, letting out a laugh. Aoi face palmed.

                “So that leaves Naegi!” Leon accused, pointing at him. Naegi stood back, shaking his head.

                “I’m telling you, it wasn’t me!” he repeated. Junko agreed with Leon.

                “You two sure do talk a lot though, and the way you two smile at each other! That’s a little suspicious to me!” she spat at him, grinning. “We all know you two were really flirting from the very first day we were here!”

                “Wait!” Naegi pleaded.

                “Yeah Shorty, you can’t trick us!” Mondo yelled impatiently, hand in a fist. Aoi watched the students pick on Naegi, and glanced at Kirigiri’s uncertain expression. That was enough to convince Aoi that a few details were missing. She then slammed her hand on the podium repeatedly until she received everyone’s attention.

                “ _Would you all just wait for one freaking second_!” Aoi shouted at everyone, then glanced at Sakura, who nodded for her to keep going. Aoi had a good idea it wasn’t Naegi, but she didn’t know where to begin, then she grinned and snapped her finger, and turned back at everyone. She realized she had commanded full attention.

                “I investigated Naegi’s room,” she started, still feeling a small ounce of uncertainty. “And I noticed this,” she said as she pulled out one of Naegi’s drafts for the summer assignment. Naegi furrowed his brows.

                “H-hey! That’s my – “

                “I know,” Aoi interrupted. Naegi closed his mouth, understanding that she was trying to defend him. He let Asahina continue, as she still had complete attention of the students.

                “Now, don’t take this the wrong way Naegi, but I’m going to have to say that he is very anal about writing things!”

                “Hey!” he retorted, offended. She held a hand up.

                “Let me finish! His desk was scattered with drafts of this assignment which was written in black ink, but it was completely covered in red ink marks. His garbage was full of different drafts, all looking like this paper!” she held it up for everyone to see. Togami raised an eyebrow and shifted his hip, standing in an unimpressed pose.

                “And what is your point?”

                “My point is that if Naegi wrote the letter, there would have been evidence of several drafts!” Aoi finished, setting the paper on her podium. Naegi smiled and nodded.

                “She’s right! I don’t consider anything I write complete until I feel like it’s perfect!” he boldly stated. Fukawa spoke softly.

                “A-ah, a true sign o-of a great writer, and I d-did hear t-that Naegi had a very good r-record of essays… almost as good as mine.”

                “Well couldn’t he have thrown the drafts away into the trash compactor?” Hagakure asked, scratching his head. Yamada fixed his glasses.

                “I did happen to find papers related to this love letter in that vicinity!” Yamada declared dramatically as he pointed to the sky. “However, knowing Naegi’s writing style now, he would have written the drafts with black ink, and _then_ mark it up with red ink to correct mistakes! But it appears the culprit thought we wouldn’t find his evidence that he tried to throw away!” He pulled out a draft of the paper, showing it off to the students. Kirigiri eyed it suspiciously.

                “Those marks, what are they?” she questioned Yamada. He glanced at it, fidgeting with his glasses.

                “They appear to be music notes,” he announced, looking at the front and back. Kirigiri frowned.

                “This doesn’t make any sense,” she muttered to herself. The entire class went silent, struggling to put the pieces together. Leon made an exasperated sigh.

                “Looks like we’re back at square one,” he whined, stroking his goatee. Aoi squinted at him. Something wasn’t right about any of this. She recited the poem in her head over and over again, thinking about the music notes, thinking about Leon’s dreams to become a musician, and felt they were all related. She tapped her finger on her chin. She reached epiphany after minutes of silence in the room and she screamed out.

                “ _I think I figured it out!”_

                Everyone in the room turned to her, in complete shock. Kirigiri looked hopeful.

                “Aoi?”

                “It’s not just a love letter! The culprit made it so much more than that!” she exclaimed, looking at everyone. “The repeating lines, the rhyming, the music notes on the different drafts! Don’t you guys get it!? The culprit wrote Sayaka a _song!_ ”

                Everyone’s eyes widened, understanding her then. Naegi leaned forward, curious at Aoi’s sudden flash of genius.

                “So what are you saying?”

                “I’m saying that someone here wanted to impress Sayaka with a… what’s that word, oh! _Composition_ , like those sheets of music with all the lyrics too! And the only person in this room that can read and write sheet music is…” she pointed at the baseball player, her eyes filled with determination.

                “ _Leon Kuwata!”_

                Everyone turned to him, blinking.

                “Wait, but everybody’s alibis except Naegi’s were cleared up,” Mondo stated confidently, “it don’t make no sense.”

                “Actually, it makes perfect sense! Because all of the alibis we cleared up were for everyone’s activites _before_ the party, but not during! I was on lifeguard duty, and I had full watch over everyone and everything in the pool area! And the only person that _left_ the area at all was Leon, assuming Ishimaru didn’t see anyone else leave during his shift!”

                “Which I didn’t!” Ishimaru boldly declared.

                “Well yeah, but t-that was so I could get the piñata!” Leon defended himself. Kirigiri turned to him.

                “But you had plenty of time to write and deliver the letter, didn’t you?” she interrogated. His face flushed red, and he was nothing but a stuttering mess, simply denying everything that the students were saying. Aoi pointed at Kirigiri next.

                “I also noticed something very peculiar about the way you looked when you were reading the letter,” she added, “your face pinched in disgust. It was from a gross smell, wasn’t it!? There was a gross stench lingering on that letter, wasn’t there?!” Aoi asked. The students turned to Kirigiri, and she blinked.

                “Yes, the letter had a putrid scent,” Kirigiri admitted. Aoi grinned. She knew she had it now, and all she had to do was wrap it up.

                “It could not have been anyone else, because the only foul body spray we found during investigating was the men’s cologne, Axe!”

                The students groaned in disgust by the mention of the name.

                “Ugh, that concoction truly is foul,” Togami agreed, his face sour. Everyone made horrified and grossed-out expressions.

                “And the only student in this school that uses Axe is Leon Kuwata!”

                Everyone turned to him, and he was as red as Aoi’s lifeguard swimsuit. He darted his eyes to everyone in the room and groaned as if he was in pain. Leon collapsed to the ground, defeated. Naegi gasped.

                “It was you,” he softly said, watching Leon be dramatic. Leon moaned in embarrassment, trying to form words to say. Aoi was panting from all her shouting, watching him slowly stand back up.

“Upupupu! It sounds like you got a main suspect in mind! Everyone cast your vote!” Monobear ordered, waving their arms around. Aoi exhaled and pressed the button with Leon’s face on it. Everyone else seemed to have casted their votes in as quickly as she did. Monobear danced around as triumphant music played on the speakers, followed by dinging sounds.

“Congratulations you losers, you found the culprit!” Monobear gladly announced.

Leon stared at the ground, entirely humiliated at this point. Aoi couldn’t help but feel guilty, but at least she gave the class more opportunities for future trials and prizes. Also, she won the entire class free tickets to Drink 182, which was pretty neat. She fondly remembered that she had a few of their albums on her iPhone. Suddenly, a low humming noise became prevalent, and she was searching for the source of the noise.

  Everyone turned to the elevator, and the doors opened. Sayaka ran in, capturing the attention of everyone.

                “Leon?” she asked, softly. He stood up and faced her, weak in the knees. She approached him until she only stood meters in front of him. His mouth moved, but no words or any recognizable sounds came out. Sayaka fidgeted with her hair, not moving her gaze from him.

                “Did you really write that for me?” she inquired, taking a very small step forward. He trembled, whispering a very weak “yes” before tugging on his collar. Sayaka stood quietly for a moment, but what felt like an eternity to everyone watching. She then fully approached him with a warm expression, making him more anxious by the second. She leaned in for a kiss on the cheek, but immediately the redhead collapsed to the floor, not moving. Sayaka’s eyes widened and everyone froze in their spots.

                “Couldn’t get it up, eh buddy?” Mondo joked with a small laugh.

                “He decided to get down on her instead,” Junko added, snickering.

                “Did I kill him?” she asked, confused. Naegi laughed and shook his head.

                “No, I think he got so anxious he fainted! The trial and the embarrassment of everybody hearing his love song to you must have really taken a toll on him.”

                Everyone gathered around him, and Sakura picked him up with ease. His limp body hung over her shoulder, and she turned to the students. “I’ll take him to the infirmary,” she announced. Sayaka raised her hand. “I’ll take care of him in the office!” she volunteered.

                “Upupupu, aren’t you all forgetting something?” Monobear asked the students. Togami turned to face him, obviously annoyed.

                “What is it that you want now?” he spat. Monobear laughed again. He grabbed a small hammer and hit a large red button in front of his seat. From the ceiling, fifteen pieces of paper rained down. One landed on Mondo’s hair, and he read it to himself after picking it out of his pompadour, then shouted excitedly.

                “The tickets! These are the tickets to the concert!” he yelled with enthusiasm. All the students with the exception of Sakura and Sayaka ran to recover the papers, jumping and making expressions of delight. Aoi gasped as she read the ticket, looking up at Monobear.

                “The concert! It’s tomorrow!?” she exclaimed. Monobear nodded and wiggled in his seat.

                “That’s right! So you bastards better get your rest tonight! Tomorrow is a big day for you all!”

                Everyone gathered back into the elevator, excitedly chattering about the concert. Aoi stood next to Sakura, mentioning that she wanted to buy merchandise. Sayaka suggested that maybe they should all pitch in some money to get a t-shirt for Leon, and most of the students agreed. As the elevator stopped and everyone walked out, Sakura turned to Aoi.

                “I’m taking Leon to the Infirmary on the third floor with Sayaka, so I wish you a good night,” she goodbye-d with a smile. “You did wonderfully today, Aoi.”

                “Thank you Sakura! I’m glad I could be of help this time around! Now don’t you stay up too late, I want you to be your best tomorrow for the concert!” Aoi demanded. Sakura grinned and patted Aoi’s head before walking off with Sayaka. Leon’s upper body hung over Sakura’s shoulder, dangling as she walked. Aoi began to make her way to the dorm halls, until she was interrupted.

                “Hey!” called Hagakure from behind her. She quickly turned, and gave him a smile.

                “Hey, what’s up?” she asked. He rubbed the back of his head, untying his ponytail. His mass of hair poofed out and he returned the grin.

                “I wanted to thank you for really defending me in there, I wouldn’t have been able to help myself in a debate if my life depended on it,” he said softly, a little embarrassed. The two stood awkwardly with each other for a moment, silently looking at each other and averting their gazes every so often. Eventually, Aoi pulled the drawing out and handed it to him.

                “It’s yours,” she uttered, averting her eyes. He shook his hand.

                “No, I want you to have it. I was going to give you some of my drawings, but you tend to be pretty annoyed with me. I figured it was best if I didn’t bother you too much, I’m really not the best at articulating myself,” Hagakure admitted. Aoi shook her head.

                “Well, I’ll admit, you can be a little annoying,” she began, “but you really aren’t that bad. I’m sure you mean well. After all, you’re actually very nice.”

                He blinked a few times, and looked down bashfully. “Nice? W-well, thanks.”

                “You’re welcome! It’s just the truth, no need to be shy!”

                Hagakure looked back up at he and beamed his brightest smile. “I suppose you’re right! Come on, I’ll walk you to your room!” he exclaimed, walking down the hall to the left of the elevator. Aoi face palmed and cleared her throat. He turned around. “Yeah?”

                Aoi pointed behind her. “The main hall is that way.”

                Hagakure shuffled over to her, hiding his embarrassment and hooked arms with her. The two began walking down the hall, and he cleared his throat.

                “I knew that.”


	7. Awkward School Days: Wrap-up Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoi and all her friends are ecstatic to go to the concert, but something terrible happens to Aoi that can really ruin just about anyone's day.

                Breakfast the next morning was filled with excitement and anticipation as enthusiastic chatter filled the entire cafeteria. Even Ishimaru wasn’t completely taking his role as a hall monitor too seriously by standing at the front of the cafeteria. Instead, he was at Mondo’s table, speaking loudly about how music soothes the mind and can improve one’s schoolwork. Chihiro and Mondo were listening in, engaged by the subject, asking questions and making comments that Ishimaru was more than happy to reply to. Sayaka was at Junko’s table, whispering to Junko and Mukuro and giggling to themselves. Naegi and Kirigiri sat with Togami and Fukawa, who seemed to brush aside their usual foul attitude. Even Celestia and Yamada looked engaged in a fun conversation, talking about all the places in the world they would love to travel to and what kind of adventures they’d like to embark on before they died. Sakura and Aoi smiled at each other before digging in to their meals. Aoi’s plate was the usual monstrosity of compiled foods and breakfast pastries. Sakura, with a fork and knife, slowly ate her ham and eggs, chewing meticulously. Within minutes, Aoi’s giant pile disappeared.

                “Hey Sakura, everyone’s in a great mood today!” she declared, looking at everyone around them. Sakura nodded in agreement, setting her silverware down.

                “Yes, everyone seems to be in higher spirits,” she said, “must be the anticipation for the concert that’s giving everyone something to look forward to.” The cafeteria continued to be noisy until the door opened, and in the doorway stood Leon Kuwata, head hung low. Everyone turned to him and all noise disappeared in a flash. Sayaka stood up immediately at her table, and focused all attention on him. Everyone looked at both Sayaka and Leon expectantly, waiting for something to happen. He looked up, his gaze locked on Sayaka. Aoi covered her mouth. Sayaka took a few steps away from the table in his direction, the two still on opposite sides of the cafeteria. Nobody moved.

                “H-hey,” she muttered out, “feeling better?” Leon’s face turned bright red, and he smiled awkwardly.

                “Y-yeah, I’m fine, really,” he answered, running his fingers through his untidy hair. Sayaka looked down and fiddled with her fingers.

                “Did you want anything from the concert tonight? We all thought it’d be a good idea to pitch in to get you something, o-or you know what! You can have my ticket!” she offered, holding it out to him. Leon couldn’t hide his smile anymore, and approached Sayaka. He weakly held his hand out in an awkward fashion, then patted her shoulder.

                “Thanks, but… that’s yours,” he uttered out, looking at her. Nearly everyone was on the edge of their seat, holding their breaths. _They’re standing so close_ , Aoi thought, biting her nails. Sayaka’s face turned into a soft pink, and she put the ticket back in her purse. She smiled at him, and whispered, “Everyone is staring at us.” Leon chuckled softly, looking down and tugging on his collar.

                “I kinda noticed,” he whispered back, still grinning. The two stood for a moment, and she reached out to fix the collar on his shirt. Everyone gasped, murmuring to each other before hushing themselves. _Oh shit, she fixed the collar,_ Aoi thought with a gasp with her hand still over her mouth. Sayaka looked around, then turned back to Leon.

                “You should probably get some breakfast,” she quietly suggested. He let out a strange cough to clear his throat.

                “Yeah,” Leon said softly. The two slowly walked away from each other. He made way to the buffet, and Sayaka sat back with Junko and Mukuro, who patted her shoulders and gave her praise for being so brave in front of everyone. The cafeteria continued with the usual chatter eventually, and Sakura let out a sigh of relief.

                “That could have gone very badly,” she whispered to Aoi. Asahina mouthed “yeah” back at Sakura. She untied her hair and pulled it back again, fixing the ponytail. The door opened again, and this time not as mainly people focused on it, already knowing who it was. He stretched, then patted the head of the lizard resting on his shoulder.

                “Morning, everyone!” he announced. Celestia hissed.

                “Put that creature back in your room,” she passively demanded, clutching her cup of tea with a death grip. Yamada trembled in fear. Hagakure frowned.

                “But Morocco wanted to join everyone for breakfast! Look how happy he is,” he pointed. Aoi let out a giggle, noticing the lizard did look like he was smiling. Togami rolled his eyes, and Fukawa shook her head at him. Hagakure eyed Leon, who was uncomfortably standing with his tray and confusedly eying the lizard. Hagakure waved.

                “Hi Leon! Are you feeling better? Ha, you sure took a fall yesterday! Remember that? I mean, I was scared for a second! You hit the floor with a pretty big thud! I thought you could have died – “ Aoi rushed over to Hagakure, and dragged him to the buffet.

                “Stop talking. Please,” she urged. Leon looked a little humiliated, and he dragged himself to Mondo’s table. He sat next to Mondo, who patted his back, encouraging him, “Hey, don’t worry ‘bout it buddy.”

                “Oh right, I’m sorry. Sometimes can’t really assess a situation,” Hagakure whispered. Aoi frowned and put her hands on her hips.

                “Well, you’re going to have to learn how to do that,” she replied before making way back to her seat. Sakura shot a sideways glance at Aoi, then smirked to herself. Asahina shot a look at her and crossed her arms.

                “What’s that look for!” she snapped, Sakura softly giggling to herself.

                “You’re awfully protective of him,” she commented. Aoi’s face flushed and she softly shoved Sakura.

                “Shut up!” Aoi harshly whispered, “I was just trying to save Leon form embarrassment!” Sakura smirked again, finishing her eggs.

                “Okay, I believe you,” Sakura replied in a singsong tune. She stood up and cleaned off her tray, and Aoi followed right behind her, fuming. _Protective? Don’t make me laugh_ , she scoffed. The two exited the cafeteria and made way back to their rooms.

                “Let’s jog today!” Aoi suggested, tugging on Sakura’s arm. Sakura turned to her.

                “On the track?”

                “Yes! I think it’d be a great idea! Getting a small workout in before the concert, don’t you think?”

                Sakura smiled happily, pleased. “Yes, I think it is a wonderful idea.”

                “So do I,” a voice popped from behind. The girls turned around to see Leon, standing alone in the hallway. Aoi’s expression became confused, wondering if he might have wanted to leave breakfast early from being too uncomfortable. Leon approached them.

                “Is it okay if I run with you two? I-I ain’t gonna be a bother, really. I just wanna clear my head, is all.” Sakura patted his head gently.

                “Of course,” she accepted. He softly smiled. Aoi stepped forward to him.

                “I’m really sorry for calling you out last night, I really am,” she apologized, bowing her head. He waved it off, grinning.

                “It’s really okay, I wrote that song so Sayaka would notice me in a different sorta way. Besides, if I won or not, I guess she would have found out anyway,” Leon said. Aoi’s body eased as if a large weight had been removed.

                “I mean, I guess it may be a little awkward ‘round here for a lil’ bit, with everyone knowin’ my secret and all, but I guess now I don’t have to worry ‘bout keeping it in. I’m embarrassed, sure, but a little relieved too? Does that make sense?”

                “Yes it does,” Sakura assured. Leon grinned at the girls, sighing in relief.

                “Thanks, I just really wanted to get that out. You girls sure are sweethearts. From one athlete to another I guess, eh?”

                The girls smiled at him, and they all dispersed back to their rooms after agreeing to meet up in an hour at the track. Aoi closed the door behind her in her room, moving to her small iPod dock and turning on the music. She closed the shutters to her window, and began to dance happily. Her body swayed around to the rhythm, and she tried to do some cool moves she saw in a music video she liked. She popped her hip and twisted around, cracking her back. She held it and paused the dancing, and groaned.

                “Okay, that’s enough dancing,” she whispered to herself. Aoi rushed to the bathroom and put on her deodorant, realizing she forgot it that morning. She leaned into the mirror and frowned at her eyebrows. _Gotta ask Junko to wax them again_ , she thought. A knock came on her door, as Aoi removed her sweater. She walked over to the door and opened it, and it was Kirigiri to Aoi’s surprise. Aoi’s eyes widened from the unexpected visitor.

                “Hey! Kyouko, what’s up?” she greeted. Kirigiri stood there, not smiling, but showing a softened expression.

                “I wanted to thank you for being a very important key to solving the case,” Kirigiri thanked. Aoi stood back, amazed at her kindness.

                “Wow, thank you for being so nice! But really, I just wanted to help!” Asahina replied. Kirigiri nodded her head and began to walk away.

                “Just thought I should thank you is all. I look forward to having fun with you tonight at the concert,” she said before leaving. Aoi waved her goodbye, and ran back in to get a different colored jacket. Since she was wearing black shorts, should she wear a black jacket? _No, it’ll look like I’m trying too hard_ , she grabbed her blue jacket and zipped it as far as it would go – right under her chest. She looked in the mirror and flexed her thick arms, grinning.

                “Getting back in shape,” she confidently mumbled to herself before walking out with her iPhone. Her earphones were in her ears, playing her favorite playlist to pump up her spirits. The playlist was mostly Beyoncé, but she figured that anyone’s spirits could be raised by the voice of her queen. Aoi left out the back door of the main building of the school, inhaling the fresh air. She walked out onto the track and began stretching her legs. Aoi started with forward lunges, and as she stretched, she started thinking.

                The fact that Leon volunteered to jog with them really proved he was under a bit of stress, now that he probably realized he’d be the center of rumors and gossip until somebody else makes a mistake worthy of a trial. _How long will that even be?_ She asked herself as she sat down for butterfly stretch. _Will we ever have another trial?_ While she reached, the image of Leon and Sayaka in the cafeteria couldn’t leave her mind. They really did seem to click. As Aoi sat back, she smiled. The thought of them together seemed really nice. She giggled to herself, thinking about the two even singing together in a duet.

                “Hey!” a voice called out to her. She turned her head towards the building and saw Leon walking out in a Boston Red Sox t-shirt and rolled-up sweatpants. Leon carried his baseball bag the was slung over his shoulder. She grinned and stood up.

                “You stretchin’ out here?” he asked, putting on a headband. Aoi nodded.

                “Yeah, don’t want to pull anything while we jog, with the concert tonight especially!” she answered, then stopped herself when she noticed Leon’s smile dimming. “Right, sorry,” she apologized. He waved his hand.

                “Don’t worry ‘bout it,” he waved off. She could tell he was disappointed that he was the only one that couldn’t go to the concert, he was probably really looking forward to it.

                “Let’s just wait for Sakura before we go, eh?” he suggested. Aoi cracked her knuckles.

                “That’s the plan!”

                Aoi and Leon continued with small talk, laughing and sharing their thoughts about the different bands that were performing in the upcoming month at venues around the school. Sakura eventually walked out of the school building, in her school gym uniform and waved at them.

                “Are we ready for a run? How much do you want to run?” Sakura asked, folding her arms. Leon stroked his goatee, which he braided for the occasion.

                “Prolly a 3200m? ‘Bout eight laps?” Leon proposed. Aoi’s eyes widened in dread. Sakura smiled.

                “Good, that sounds like a nice warm-up,” Sakura said. Aoi whimpered.

                “W-warm-up?” she whined. Leon and Sakura starting jogging already, and Aoi ran to the best of her ability to keep up. They all had their ear phones in, jogging along to their music. The first lap went by like a breeze as the group stayed jogging in unison. Aoi’s breathing was relatively normal for jogging, but she gradually found herself slipping behind the other two. It seemed like with every few hundred meters, the pair in front of her ran faster, and she was already going as fast as her legs allowed her. After they reached the halfway mark, Aoi was huffing and puffing, feeling sweat beads run down her brow. Sakura and Leon turned back and slowed down substantially to let Aoi catch up.

                The only thing on Aoi’s mind at this point was to survive the other half of their so-called “warm-up”. _Warm-up_ , she thought to herself. _More like someone please kill me_. Leon and Sakura finished their fifth lap already, more than a hundred meters in front of Asahina. She sprinted down to their starting point, exhausting herself at the beginning of her sixth lap. _Why did I suggest this? Why did I want to do this? I want to sit down. I want to stop. I want to lie down and never think about exercise again._ She looked up as she jogged, and noticed Leon and Sakura were already starting their seventh lap, their legs pounding the rubber track in unison. Aoi felt she had to hurry up, eventually crossing the starting point and beginning her seventh lap.

                After a few minutes, Sakura and Leon finished their jog, high-fiving each other and reaching in their bags for water. Aoi watched them in jealousy, not willing to stop running until she finished her eighth lap. _Almost done, almost there… I think I see a light, I’m going to run to the light. Maybe this is how I’ll die… from too much running._

                Aoi ran past the finish line, yelling victoriously before falling to the ground, exhausted. Sakura and Leon walked over, grinning down at her.

                “Come on Aoi, that’s just the warm-up,” Leon joked, chuckling. Asahina’s eyes widened and she sat up suddenly, pointing at Leon.

                “No,” she gasped out. She pointed at Sakura.

                “No.”

                Aoi continued to say the word “no” as she got up and walked back into the school, waving her arms to signal that she was done with exercising for today. Leon and Sakura followed her in with their bags and chatting about making more “exercise dates”. Asahina turned to face them once she was back in the hallway, still out of breath.

                “You two go ahead and run,” she said, breathing heavily. “I was built for swimming. You see these legs? Short. Bad for running.” Leon let out a laugh and patted her shoulder.

                “Okay girlie, we gotchya. Now you two better clean up and get ready for that concert. I’m gonna take a nap and maybe play my guitar or some shit. Maybe eat my feelings or whatever,” he added. Sakura and Aoi said goodbye to him as they all walked to their rooms. Sakura tied up her hair into a ponytail and hummed.

                “He still seems a little tense,” Sakura muttered under her breath. Aoi looked back to see him enter his room exhaustedly. She looked back to Sakura.

                “Yeah, but I’m sure things can only get easier for him from now on. Talking to Sayaka for him can only get less and less awkward. And to be honest, with the way she talked to him, I don’t think it’ll be too much of a problem for him!”

                Sakura nodded in agreement. “I think so too. They really seem to enjoy each other’s company. Now, my girl, if you excuse me, I must shower and prepare for the concert. Could you do my make-up again, if you don’t mind?

                “Actually, I think we should ask for Junko or Sayaka’s help, because they’re really good at make-up. Or even Celestia!” Aoi exclaimed. A voice piped up from down the hall.

                “Did you mention me?” Sayaka asked as she was about to enter her room. Aoi smiled.

                “Yes! We were wondering if you could do our make-up before the concert! You always do yours really pretty and I don’t have too many supplies, and Sakura isn’t very experienced in applying make-up! Could you please?” she begged, taking a few steps towards her. Sayaka smiled at Aoi before she walked in her room.

                “Of course! Come to my room around after lunch, and I’ll do your make-up!” she said. Aoi clasped her hands. The girls went back to her rooms, and Aoi looked in the mirror after throwing her jacket onto the bed. Her hair was a total disaster. After struggling to take the hair tie out of her sweaty and mangled hair, she set it on the desk. Aoi grabbed the towel closest to her and headed into her into her bathroom, turning on the hot water. She stepped into the shower and grinned at the feeling of water on her skin, slicking her hair back. She sang some Disney songs while in the shower, washing and conditioning her hair. As she stepped out, she turned the fan on in her bathroom to get rid of all the steam. She wrapped her towel around her body, and stepped out of the bathroom. She nonchalantly walked out of her bathroom, still singing. Until she saw someone laying face-up on her bed.

 

                “ _YOU!”_ she shouted, pointing at him, “What are you doing in my room!?” Hagakure sat straight up, saw that she was just in her towel, and screamed. She then began screaming at him, and the entire room was entirely filled with screams of invaded privacy and confusion. She grabbed the biggest pillow on her bed and began beating him.

                “Get out! Get the hell out of my room you pervert!” she yelled, opening the door and kicking him out. He held his hands up defensively.

                “I-it’s not what you think!” he tried to explain.

                “Not what I _think!?”_ Aoi shouted, standing in the hallway in her towel, hitting him with a pillow. “What else could it possibly _fucking be!?”_

                “Please!” he pleaded. Aoi fumed at him, hitting him a few more times, screaming. Everyone peered their heads out of their rooms to watch the scene. Some of the students even left their rooms to watch. Hagakure was against the wall, and Aoi unintentionally commanded everybody’s full attention while yelling at him.

                “Don’t you _ever_ walk into my room without my permission, and while I was in the shower! Are you freaking kidding me!? You are a total pervert! I can’t believe I even considered – “ she paused, glancing at him, who was trembling against the wall. He looked desperate, and his face was bright red from embarrassment. His gentle eyes begged mercy from her, and she stared at him for a moment. No, she was not allowing those thoughts into her mind right now.

                “Don’t look at me like that.”

                “Like what?”

                “That face! Don’t give me that face when I’m trying to be mad at you!”

                “You sing really well in the shower – “

                “Are you _trying_ to piss me off!? Do you _want_ to die!?”

                “Aoi, please, I wouldn’t have gone into your room at the time if it wasn’t important,” he said softly, walking to her. Her body tensed up as she watch him approach her. He gently grabbed the pillow in her hand and set it on the floor. Aoi’s face turned a little pink at how close he was, considering all she was in was a towel. She took a small step back and Hagakure held his arms out pleadingly.

                “It’s Morocco,” he uttered. She raised a brow.

                “Your lizard?”

                “Yes,” Hagakure answered. Aoi’s body relaxed gradually.

                “What happened?”

                “He’s vomiting blood or something, and he’s in a lot of pain. I noticed that he had some lumps around his neck and tummy… Uh,  I-I didn’t know who else to turn to, and you’ve been showing me so much kindness that I really thought you’d want to help me,” he croaked. His eyelids were beginning to flutter, almost as if he was about to cry. Aoi patted his shoulder.

                “Hey, don’t cry, we’ll fix it, okay? Let me get dressed and I’ll head straight to your room, okay?” she cooed. He hugged her tightly, nodding and whispering “okay”. As she reached out to hug him back and comfort him, she felt very cold for a moment. Everyone in the hallway gasped, and a few people whistled and clapped. She blinked in confusion, and pulled away from Hagakure, then looked down. The worst thing in the world had just happened. The worst thing in the entire world happened at that school, in that hallway. And the worst thing in the entire world just happened to her.

                Her towel fell off.

                After screaming and Hagakure looking around to understand the situation, the two yelled in unison. He stared at her while shouting as she scrambled to put her towel back on, and Aoi hit him with her hand a few times to urge him to stop looking. He cover his eyes with his hands and started to run, but slammed straight into the wall and fell to the floor. Aoi ran into her room after receiving a round of applause from the students. She slammed the door behind her. She screamed again until she began crying. _I can’t even believe it, I want this to be some sort of terrible dream_ , she wished. Her door swung open and she was about to scream again, but it was Sakura, who shut the door behind her and hugged Asahina protectively. Aoi cried her tears into Sakura’s body.

                “I-I’m never leaving my room again!” Aoi wailed, sobbing into Sakura’s chest. Sakura pet Aoi’s hair.

                “That’s not a good attitude to have. Besides, they’re all good people, they’re not going to take pictures or think any differently of you because of a mere accident.”

                “This is all _his_ fault!”

                “It’s nobody’s fault,” Sakura whispered, rubbing Aoi’s back. Aoi blubbered for a few more minutes, then made way to her dresser and put on her nicer clothes for the concert. After putting on her usual matching white sports bra and white hipster underwear, she put on a red flannel and a pair of denim shorts. She brushed through her wet hair and turned to Sakura.

                “He’s too much of an idiot sometimes,” she grumbled, “but I guess you’re right. Now that I think about it, he probably didn’t have any bad intentions.” Sakura smiled.

                “Come on, let’s go help his lizard. He appeared very desperate.”

                Aoi and Sakura opened the door and gasped at the same time because of the sight before them. Everyone, every single student, stood in front of her room wearing nothing but their underwear on. The girls still had their bras on, but the boys were really nearly naked. Aoi covered her mouth, blushing bright red.

                “What!? What is this!?” she questioned, looking at everyone. Mondo stepped forward, in leopard print briefs.

                “We all decided that we’re all pretty much a big, weird family. And if one of us stands in front of the others naked, it’s not fair for them to stand alone.”

                “W-we’re not as f-fat as y-you are,” Fukawa mumbled. Togami elbowed her shoulder and stepped forward. Aoi started laughing at his thong, unable to keep a straight face anymore.

                “Laugh all you want, however; it is I that benefits from the comfort and flexibility of the thong’s cut. Additionally, even I agreed that it was cruel for all of us to bask in your embarrassment. Besides, we’re all stuck together and already saw each other in our swimsuits. Might as well add underwear too.”

                “Yes!” Sayaka added. “But this doesn’t mean we all should walk around naked. From now on, clothes on when you leave a room.”

                “What happened to you was an accident, and it’s behind us now,” Celestia spoke. Aoi smiled at all of them, and snickered at some of their underwear.

                “You guys are the best!” she complimented, almost crying. Sakura was right, they really were great people. Hagakure stepped forward in blue, paisley hipster briefs in front of Aoi.

                “Although, I don’t feel like it’s entirely fair yet,” he started. Aoi raised her brow then widened her eyes.

                “No, you really don’t have to! Please don’t!” she begged. Ignoring her pleas, he pulled down his underwear in front of everybody and everyone looked away.

                “Dude, put that away!” Mondo demanded.

                “ _My eyes!”_

“That tiger is definitely lost in the jungle.”

                “Hagakure, you’re such an idiot!” Celestia hissed. Aoi covered her mouth, her eyes averted. She glanced for one second at his body and covered her eyes.

                “No, I’m not doing this. No. Nope. No. Put your… Oh my god, I can’t even bring myself to say it.”

                Hagakure pulled his underwear back on, face red as a beet. He folded his arms and grinned at Aoi.

                “See? Now we’re even!” She uncovered her eyes, just as red as he was.

                “I didn’t want to see,” Aoi uttered out. Everyone eventually went back to their rooms, and Hagakure led Sakura and Aoi to his room to check on his lizard. He walked to his dresser and put on some baggy sweat pants, rolling them up to the middle of his calves. He slid on his flip-flops and tied his hair back, the rushed to Morocco. Aoi leaned into the cage with Sakura, and their expressions dimmed.

                “I think he’s really, really sick,” Aoi commented. Sakura thought to herself and scratched her temple.

                “I am familiar with this disease,” Sakura said. Hagakure turned to her.

                “You are!?”

                “Yes,” she replied. “I believe it’s called ‘Cloacitis’. Typically, in reptiles, it’s caused by an inefficient diet. It ruins their digestive and reproductive tracts, and creates a hole. This allows worms and other parasites into its body. And that is what the lumps are,” she explained, pointing at the lumps. Hagakure’s eyes widened in fear.

                “So…?”

                “It’s too late,” Sakura gloomily added. Hagakure pet Morocco tenderly.

                “What do we do? I don’t want to see him in any more pain!” Hagakure whimpered. Aoi patted his shoulder and turned to Sakura. Sakura looked at the lizard and petted it as well.

                “We have to pull the plug.”

                “Kill him!?”

                “It’s the only way,” Sakura said, looking at him with full seriousness. He nodded, accepting the fate of his new pet lizard. He tapped on the glass and smiled weakly.

                “It’s okay little guy,” he cooed. “You’re gonna go to lizard heaven very soon… and you won’t have to hurt anymore.”

                He picked the lizard up and walked out of his room, Aoi and Sakura following him. Mondo and Chihiro were back in normal outfits, and turned to Hagakure and his lizard.

                “Is he alright?” Chihiro quietly asked. Hagakure shook his head, nearly sobbing.

                “N-no, Morocco… he’s… it’s terminal.” Mondo’s expression softened and his lip started quivering.

                “P-poor little guy,” Mondo said, “he prolly had his own hopes n’ dreams. M-maybe like, becomin’ the king of the lizards.” Mondo began sobbing with Hagakure, holding his face with his hands. Chihiro rubbed Mondo’s arm.

                “He’s going to a better place,” Chihiro reassured. Mondo looked down to Chihiro and softly smiled, and patted their head.

                “Yeah, he’ll be a-okay…”

                The group walked out the front of the school, and found the small pond surrounded by little trees next to the parking lot. Hagakure placed Morocco next to the pond, and waved to him somberly.

                “Spend the last of your days with your nature friends,” he gloomily said. The lizard looked up at him expectantly. Aoi could have sworn she saw the lizard nod at Hagakure before waddling into the bushes, never to be seen again. Sakura hung her head down in respect, as the rest of the others did.

                “M-may you fulfill you dreams and become the lizard king, Morocco,” Hagakure whispered. Aoi held Hagakure’s hand and squeezed it. He turned to her.

                “He will, just you see,” she said softly. He smiled at her and looked back to the bushes where he ran. Mondo tapped Hagakure’s shoulder with a reassuring smile.

                “Hey, now we can’t be sad no more. We got a concert to get ready for!” he exclaimed. Hagakure’s face lightened up and he grinned brilliantly.

                “That’s right! Morocco would want us to have as much fun as we can!”

                “Hagakure, let go of my hand,” Aoi urged. He let go with a laugh and muttering, “sorry”. The group headed back to the school, looking forward to the rest of the day. Aoi looked back to the pond. _Rest in peace, Morocco._ Then she turned forward and smiled, excited for the rest of the day.


	8. Awkward School Days: Wrap-up Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is incredibly pumped for the concert! Aoi has fun hanging out with her friends, except for the parts where HE keeps on bugging her. Honestly, what's his deal?

                Ishimaru waved Aoi down as she and her friends entered the cafeteria, and walked over to them. He held an index card in his hand. Aoi eyed the paper curiously after greeting him.

                “Monobear has given me specific directions to the concert!” Ishimaru announced, holding up the paper. Mondo leaned in to look at it, then scoffed and whined.

                “What, are ya shittin’ me? He expects us to fuckin’ walk!?”

                “Language, Mondo!” Ishimaru exclaimed. Mondo cringed from the boom in his voice, and rolled his eyes.

                “Like hel – _heck_ I’m walkin’. I’m takin’ the bike!” he yelled, swiping the card from Ishimaru. Aoi  turned to Mondo, confused.

                “Bike?” Aoi questioned, eyebrow raised. Mondo sneered as if it were obvious.

                “I’m a gang leader of a fuckin’ motorcycle gang, I take my sweet lady with me wherever I go. And that includes this shithole of a school,” he answered. Ishimaru grabbed Mondo by the ear and tugged on it, leaving Mondo flinching and squirming under his grip.

                “What did I say about language!?” Ishimaru declared. Mondo broke free from his grip and glared at him.

                “You don’t say nothin’ ‘bout language ever! You just shout the word and then my name!”

                “Then let me be perfectly clear!” Ishimaru retorted, puffing out his chest and getting in Mondo’s face. “You will not use such profanities around ladies or in a school facility! It pollutes the environment with unnecessary foulness and filth! And you’re disturbing Fujisaki!”

                Mondo looked to Chihiro, who was shaking subtly where she stood. Mondo looked at their expression, which had big round eyes and a cute pink blush across their face. He gave in and groaned and bowed to Ishimaru and the girls half-heartedly.

                “Sorry for… swearin’.” Chihiro patted his back, and rubbed it softly.

                “It’s okay, j-just try not to be too loud,” Chihiro forgave. Mondo stood up straight and grinned.

                “Hey! How ‘bout I make it up to you! I’ll let you ride my bike with me to the concert! Whaddaya say?” he suggested, excited. Chihiro’s face lightened up, and their smile grew wide.

                “That sounds dangerous… b-but very fun! Yes!” Chihiro accepted. Mondo became a little pink; Aoi really couldn’t blame him. Chihiro was absolutely adorable when excited. Ishimaru grinned and swiped the index card back from Mondo.

                “I will head to the copy room and make a few copies for our student drivers!” he announced before heading out. Hagakure walked towards the buffet and picked up a few kiwis and pieces of sashimi. Aoi followed him and piled everything on her plate, but she watched him carefully as he was making an odd concoction out of his food at the condiment bar. He cut open the kiwis and sprinkled the fruit with pepper and cayenne. And he drowned the sashimi in ranch dressing. Aoi’s face pinched in disgust and horror, _I would never do that to my food_. He then reached for a piece of spam, and made a smiley face on it out of ketchup. She approached him.

                “What are you even doing?” Aoi asked. Hagakure glanced at her and grinned, then focused back on his food.

                “Making lunch! What else would I be doing?”

                “That looks like a lunch from a cafeteria in Hell.”

                “I think it’s delicious.”

                “How is sashimi in ranch dressing delicious?”

                “It just really is! It’s been my favorite since I was nine!”

                “I will never understand you.”

                “Are you trying to?” he asked unexpectantly, looking at her. She paused, not sure how to answer the question. He eyed her plate filled with almost all the food from the buffet. He raised a brow, shooting her a look. Her brows furrowed. _Why is he being so annoying!?_ She clenched her grip on the tray.

                “What are you looking at?” she spat defensively. He laughed.

                “You’re calling _me_ weird? Only a psycho can down all that food in one go,” Hagakure answered grinning, taking a bite of his kiwi and sitting down at a table. She internally threw a mini-fit and stomped her legs in frustration. She stormed to Sakura’s table, angrily wolfing down her meal. Sakura watched from a side glance, smirking. Junko sat down at their table, picking at a salad and looked up to Aoi. She smiled and nodded approvingly as she watched Asahina eat the pile on her plate.

                “That’s incredible,” she marveled. “How do you burn off all those calories?”

                Aoi turned to Junko, and stood up. She pointed at her breasts, thighs, and butt. “I don’t,” she answered. Junko laughed and continued eating her salad. After sprinkling it with lemon zest, she smirked at the girls.

                “You think there’s gonna be hot girls and boys at the concert?” she asked, voice lowered. Sakura cocked her head to the side.

                “Boys and girls?” Junko laughed a little, and leaned in to Aoi and Sakura as if sharing a secret.

                “If you’re really that curious, I’m interested in people that are just hot. And if you think about it, there’s a lot more hot girls out there than guys. Look at us! We’re gorgeous!” she enthusiastically whispered to them. Aoi shrugged.

                “I guess that may be true, but I guess don’t feel the same way about girls.”

                “Hah! Whatever, more for me!” Junko enthused, chewing her food. Asahina and Sakura smiled at Junko’s attitude. Mukuro came back with Ishimaru, holding a few copies of the directions. Mukuro sat with Junko, chewing a piece of gum.

                “Don’t tell me you’re scaring them with your ‘hot people’ speech,” Mukuro grumbled. Junko rolled her eyes.

                “I didn’t give them the speech,” Junko harshly whispered. Mukuro sighed in relief.

                “Thank god,” she uttered. Junko playfully shoved her sister and laughed, pointing at her.

                “Have you met my sister, Debbie Downer?”

                “I’m not a downer, you’re just being annoying as usual,” Mukuro mumbled. Aoi giggled at the sister’s interaction as they continued to go at each other. Mukuro held her hand up to Junko and put it on her face. Junko’s words were muffled by the hand, and Mukuro turned to Sakura and Asahina.

                “I’ll drive us and the other girls to the concert. Mondo has a bike and Ishimaru told me he was taking Chihiro. Togami has a chauffeur and we can safely assume he’s taking Fukawa. Well, perhaps she’ll sneak into his car. Yamada also has a license and a sedan, and volunteered to take Naegi, Hagakure, and Ishimaru. I believe that is everyone that’s going.” After struggling for a moment, Junko shoved her sister’s hand out of her face. The fashionista shouted excitedly.

                “I can’t wait for the concert! I’m gonna throw my bra at the band!”

                “Please don’t do that,” Sakura insisted. Junko gave her a look.

                “I’m bringing one of my old ones to throw at them. I don’t want it back,” she winked. Aoi shook her head, laughing. The door to the cafeteria opened, and a few students turned, then did a double-take. It was Leon again, but this time he brought Sayaka with him. He held the door for her, and she politely bowed to him before walking to the buffet. Leon followed her, smiling at Sakura and Aoi before continuing to walk. Sakura continued eating her chicken breast, smirking.

                “I knew it’d only get better from this morning,” she whispered to herself. Leon and Sayaka sat with Hagakure, who greeted them with his story about the funeral ceremony of Morocco. Sayaka listened in, interested, while Leon asked him how a funeral was even possible for a lizard that wasn’t dead yet. Aoi’s face turned red when Hagakure noticed she was staring, and he waved at her. She turned away immediately, angry.

                “Moron,” she muttered to herself. Naegi sat at their table with Kirigiri, taking the last empty seats. He smiled at everyone.

                “Hey! Everyone excited?” he asked, taking a bite out of an apple. Junko whooped, pounding the table with her hands.

                “Duh! Do you see what I’m wearing? My outfit says ‘hope I can pick up hot people from the concert, but if I don’t it’s cool because I’m going to a concert’!”

                “Right… I never would have guessed,” he commented, clearly weirded out. Kirigiri wore a beanie and braided her hair for the occasion. Aoi smiled at Kirigiri.

                “You look so pretty!” she complimented once finished with her food. Kirigiri’s face flushed.

                “Thank you.”

                The door swung open again, and for the first time, the students saw Togami without his glasses. His hair was styled with to make it appear windswept, and Fukawa’s braids were let down, revealing her long locks.

                “Guys, I think she finally showered,” Junko whispered. Fukawa walked by their table, and trembled once she noticed everyone was looking at her. Aoi realized she looked very pretty in her pastel floral sundress. Fukawa took a few steps away.

                “A-are you talking about h-how ugly I am?” she hoarsely questioned. Aoi shook her head.

                “I think you actually look very beautiful!” Aoi complimented. The writer froze where she stood, her mouth forming a small smile. She looked down at her feet, shaking her head.

                “L-liar,” she quietly accused. Junko spoke as well.

                “Nah, you actually look very good! You want a clip in your hair or something? I have a bunch of accessories you can borrow!”

                “K-Kindness!?” the girl blurted. Togami approached the table, his tray holding a water bottle and a turkey sandwich. He turned to Fukawa.

                “Don’t be stupid,” he scolded her. “I didn’t brush your hair so you could call yourself ugly. I made quite an effort to make you look decent. Do not be an ungrateful brat. You should carry yourself with pride and learn to thank people for their shallow compliments. Go on. Thank them. It’s not hard.” Fukawa obeyed him immediately, standing a little straighter and bowing to the girls at the table.

                “T-thank you for your compliments,” she muttered, head facing down. Aoi grinned.

                “It’s no problem!” she chirped. She then took a look at Togami, who was dressed very casually for his taste. He wore a black button-up shirt, and the sleeves were rolled up. He wore slim blue jeans and a pair of…

                “Converse?” Aoi asked him, looking at his shoes. Togami tilted his chin up snobbishly.

                “They are comfortable and perfect for the occasion. No need to be snide,” he retorted. Aoi shot him a dirty look.

                “I was about to compliment you, but you know what? Never mind!” she exclaimed, folding her arms. This appeared to hurt him. He cleared his throat.

                “I-I take back what I said. It was rude and arrogant of me. No go on, praise me.” Aoi smirked, and raised her brow at him.

                “You actually don’t look like a total jerk,” she complimented. He tightened his grip on the tray, and just walked away. Fukawa followed right behind him. Junko covered her face, laughing.

                “You really don’t like him, huh?”

                “I’m not going to pretend that I do,” she stated. “He treats everyone like they’re idiots! He’s just mean!” Aoi stood up and emptied her tray into the garbage can, with Sakura following her. Sayaka stood at the exit of the cafeteria, waving them down.

                “Are you girls ready for a makeover?” she called. Junko jumped out of her seat, tripping and falling. She stood back up and brushed off the crumbs from the floor.

                “You said makeover?!” she shouted at Sayaka. Intimidated, Sayaka nodded. Junko bolted out the door.

                “Let me get my stuff!!” she yelled while running to her room for supplies. Aoi and Sakura walked out with Sayaka, amazed.

                “She should run with us,” Sakura said. Sayaka giggled gingerly.

                “Yes, she really can run when she wants to,” she added.

                The girls gathered in Sayaka’s room. Aoi and Sakura sat on her bed, and observed all the pink in her room. _Her room is completely pink_ , Aoi observed. She had several posters on the wall of her and her pop group. Aoi smiled and pointed them out.

                “You look awesome in these posters! No wonder you’re everyone’s favorite!” Aoi commented. Sayaka pulled out a large make-up bag and beamed.

                “Thank you, they were all fun to pose for. The cameramen and make-up artists really had some talent,” she replied while looking at the posters herself. Junko kicked open the door with a suitcase, and turned to Sayaka, heavily breathing.

                “You do Sakura, I got Aoi.”

                They nodded in mutual understanding, beginning their masterpieces on the girl’s faces. Junko set up her waxing kit after cleaning Aoi’s face, and began to apply the wax around her brow. She laid the strip in between Aoi’s brows, and the swimmer clenched her fists in anticipation. The strip ripped off, and Aoi grunted loudly, rubbing in between her brow.

                “Holy crap!” she exclaimed. Junko gave her a look.

                “You know, if you tweezed regularly, this wouldn’t hurt so bad. But at least you’re not Ishimaru.”

                After numerous strips being ripped off her brow and moustache, Aoi’s face was red and sore. She had let out enough screams of pain to make the room sound like a torture chamber. Someone quickly opened the door.

                “I heard yelling!” exclaimed Ishimaru. Junko turned to him, holding tweezers. She then charged after him into the hall, chasing him with the tweezers in her hand.

                “ _Your brows need my help!_ ” she yelled down the hall. She walked back in, laughing. “One day, one day he will let me clean those fucking caterpillars.”

                Aoi snorted and Sayaka giggled to herself. Sakura nodded in agreement to Junko’s statement.

                “Yes, they are quite bushy aren’t they?”

                Junko sat back in front of Aoi, applying foundation and continuing, “Well yeah! Every day I look at them. They move and twitch and furrow and they’re just gross. His brows haunt me in my nightmares. They annoy me so much that looking at them is the visual equivalent of hearing a scratch on a chalkboard. His eyebrows are the fucking bane of my existence. They are giving me vaginal contractions because the pain of looking at them is too much for the human body. And I _will_ fix them before the end of this school year. I have vowed that to myself.”

                Aoi at this point had bellowed a good laugh, along with the other girls. The rest of the makeover session went smoothly as Junko began on Asahina’s eyes. She and Sakura were talking about workout routines that keep them in shape. For a few moments of deep concentration for Sayaka and Junko, they applied the eyeliner. Sayaka then spoke softly, talking to herself.

                “I wish Leon could come with us,” she wished. Sayaka opened an eye, listening curiously.

                “Do you?” Sakura inquired. Sayaka nodded, setting the eyeliner pen down.

                “I think he’s really sweet… and punk rock is one of his favorite things in the whole world. I just wish I could see him at the concert. He’d be so happy,” she continued. Junko grinned mischievously, leaning in Sayaka’s direction.

                “So, what _else_ do you think of him? He has a lot of piercings. You like bad boys?” Sayaka’s face flushed red.

                “W-well, he just wants to maintain his rock star image!” she answered defensively. The room was quiet again. Junko leaned in to Sayaka again, grinning.

                “Does he have a Prince Albert? Or a Dydoe?”

                “Huh, what are those?” Sayaka responded, confused. Sakura snickered as she tied back her hair.

                “My girl, those are – “ she whispered the rest in Sayaka’s ear. She jumped in her seat, hitting Junko on the arm.

                “You’re such a nasty sometimes!” Sayaka yelled, laughing with her face bright red. Junko bellowed a laugh as she backed up from Asahina.

                “What, if he has a bunch of piercings, don’t you want to see them _all_?”

                “I t-think it’s time to go,” Sayaka quickly changed the subject, swiftly tiptoeing out her room. Junko held a mirror in front of Aoi’s face, and the swimmer gasped in amazement. Her eyes looked smoky but still had prominent eyeliner, and the dark burgundy lipstick really brought out her lips. She looked like she was glowing; not a single pore was visible on her face.

                “Is this how much make-up you usually wear?” she asked Junko. Junko nodded, and winked.

                “Of course it is!”

                “What do you really look like?”

                “That, my dear friend, will always remain a mystery!” Junko exclaimed as she walked out the room. Everyone was gathered at the end of the hallway, and the girls all clumped into a group with the exception of Fukawa and Chihiro. They all complimented each other’s make up and outfits, showing off their shoes or their nails. Leon approached the group of girls, and their usual roar of voices settled down to a murmur. He approached Sayaka gingerly, handing her a Drink 182 album.

                “Could you do me a favor… maybe get this signed if you can?” he asked softly. She nodded with a smile.

                “Yes I will! You can count on me!”

                They stood there for a very long minute, not sure what else to say or think. Sayaka’s face then flushed bright red, and Aoi knew exactly what was on her mind. _Don’t say it girl, do not say it._

                “Leon, do you have a Prince Albert?”

                _She said it._

The entirety of the students turned to Leon, completely silent. His face was so red it neared a shade of purple. He trembled, breath becoming uneven.

                “U-uh, I…” he stuttered. Ishimaru looked around, confused.

                “Who is Prince Albert?” he curiously asked Mondo. Mondo covered the hall monitor’s mouth.

                “Don’t worry ‘bout it.” Celestia gently dragged Sayaka away from Leon.

                “Enough flirting for today you two, we have a concert to go to. Leon, perhaps you could use this time to polish your Prince Albert?” she said, making him even more uncomfortable.

                “I-I have to go,” he quickly breathed out, speed walking to his room.

                Monobear appeared from the doorway to the school, holding an electric guitar and playing a solo. Everyone turned to him, listening.

                “Listen up, losers!” he announced. “Upupupu, Now’s the time you should start heading to the concert! It’s three hours after noon! Or the traffic will be… _unbearable_!”

                Everyone scoffed and booed, rolling their eyes at his awful pun.

                “Oh my god, please leave.”

                “Was that really necessary?”

                “ _Keep your day job!_ ”

                Monobear held up his hands in defense, then putting his hands on his hips. “Upupupu, Excuse me, who’s letting you go on this trip, anyway?” The students fell silent. Monobear folded his hands. “That’s right, so appreciate your headmaster for once! Have fun tonight!” Monobear played another guitar solo, and kept playing as he walked down the hall, turning a corner after some time. The students looked at each other in confusion.

                “Right, concert,” Aoi spoke. Everyone walked into the parking lot to their designated cars, boarding them. Yamada called out to Mukuro.

                “You’re following me, yes ladies?” he asked, stroking his chin. Mukuro held a thumbs-up before getting into her driver’s seat. The girls were in the same seats as they were the day before, and they all sang on the way to the concert. Junko started dancing in her seat, making the van wiggle. Mukuro turned off the radio.

                “Do you want me to turn this car around?!” she scolded Junko. “God, Junks, you’re not five.”

                “Debbie Downer!” Junko called her sister. Junko turned to the backseat.

                “You girls gonna pick up some hot guys?” she asked, grinning. Celestia let out a giggle.

                “If I could find a way smuggle someone into the school, I just might.” Junko gave her a high-five, then turned to Kirigiri. “What about you, you look awfully pretty today!” Kyouko turned to Junko.

                “Thank you, I thought I should dress pretty for the occasion, but I don’t intend on bringing anyone else into the school,” she replied. Junko raised a brow, then turned to the front. “Sakura? What about you?” Sakura turned back.

                “I already have a boyfriend, I have nobody else to impress.”

                The girls gasped in unison, all looking at each other in surprise. Junko took off her seatbelt and kneeled next to Sakura. “You serious, show us some pics! What’s his name!? Tell us everything!”

                “I didn’t know this!” Aoi exclaimed. Sakura turned back with a smile.

                “I wanted to surprise you all for when he comes back from his tournament, but I guess I slipped too early. Here’s a picture of us,” she said while handing her phone to Junko. Junko’s eyes widened.

                “ _Damn!_ He’s hot! Girls, look!”

                The rest of the girls looked at the picture, amazed. Aoi looked at it, gasping. He was gorgeous, and built like a fighter. He and Sakura were holding hands in the picture, and they looked happy. Sakura continued.

                “His name is Kenichirou, we grew up fighting together. At first we were rivals, but then we became quite close,” she told while smiling. The girls aaw-ed at Sakura’s short-but-sweet story. Junko sat back in her seat.

                “Well damn, best boyfriend of the year goes to Sakura Oogami, everyone give her a hand!” The girls applauded and whistled for her, and Celestia took a second look at the picture.

                “You know who he resembles?” she began, looking up at the girls. Kirigiri furrowed her brows, unsure.

                “Who?”

                “He looks like a very muscular and cleaned-up version of Hagakure,” Celestia said. The girls went silent. Sakura laughed.

                “They sure don’t act alike,” she added. Celestia smiled.

                “Well, I imagined not. Hagakure is too eccentric for even most psychiatrists to understand.”

                “He is a big mystery,” Kirigiri said.

                “No,” Aoi began, “Hagakure is _so_ much more than just any eccentric. Or any mystery.He’ _s_ like that really misbehaved puppy that breaks everything you love, and tears apart your clothes, and poops in your room, but the puppy is so soft and so cute that you can’t even bring yourself to get mad at it! It just gives you that face! And then you’re even more annoyed because you can’t bring yourself to correct them, you just lower your guard _again_ until they annoy you over and over again! But do you yell at the puppy? No! Because it’s too cute and too precious and you want to jump off a _fucking bridge!_ ” Aoi ranted. As Mukuro pulled into a parking space, she and the rest of the girls turned to Aoi. They were all stunned. Aoi’s face was red from anger and a tad bit of embarrassment. Kirigiri was the first to comment.

                “You think he’s cute and precious?”

                “I heard _too_ cute and _too_ precious,” Celestia added. Aoi made an angry, pterodactyl-like sound and opened the van door, storming out. The girls followed out behind her as they entered the gates to the venue, where everyone else waited. When they entered, Yamada fixed his glasses.

                “What seems to be troubling the aquatic lady?” he questioned, observing Aoi’s angry behavior. Sakura rested her hand on Asahina’s shoulder.

                “Puppies,” Sakura replied. Mondo heard the word and turned to Aoi.

                “Why you mad about puppies? Puppies are the best thing in this freakin’ world!”

                “That’s not the real issue,” Celestia stepped in, “She likes puppies _too much_.” Mondo nodded in understanding.

                “Oh yeah, I know that feeling. Sometimes I get mad because I can’t own and take care of all the puppies and dogs in the world, y’know?”

                “Oh, but it’s just not _any_ puppy,” Junko chirped. Mukuro smiled and finished for Junko.

                “Aoi really wants this puppy, she sees it every day in the pet shop window. It’s one of those dark ones with the long, corded hair. They can get really silly, but she loves the way it looks back at her with those big, brown, puppy eyes.”

                “I hate you guys,” Asahina muttered under her breath. All the girls laughed, walking her into the venue. The guys followed behind them, and Mondo was mumbling to himself, then glanced at Hagakure, then snapped his finger.

                “A Puli!” Mondo exclaimed. The girls turned back to him.

                “The kind of puppy you want is called a Puli! I had a buddy that bred a bunch of ‘em back ‘round my house. I can call him, he’d be more than happy to give you one! He’s a pretty nice guy!” Mondo told Asahina, patting her shoulder. She exhaled.

                “Thanks, Mondo, I’ll definitely think about it, Aoi weakly replied. They walked up to the booth and lined up, turning in their tickets before entering the inside of the stadium. They found their spots in the pit, all standing together in a bunch. Aoi clung onto Sakura, and sniffed something in the air.

                “It’s weed,” Mondo said from behind. Ishimaru gasped in horror, looking at all the people around him.

                “These people are living without proper morals!” he declared loudly. Mondo held onto his shoulder.

                “These people are not your responsibility, buddy,” Mondo spoke. Aoi felt someone nudge against her right side, and it was Hagakure, smiling down at her.

                “You as excited as I am?” he asked, jumping up and down. She shrugged.

                “I don’t know, you look pretty stoked. Can’t say if I could possibly be more excited than you,” she replied. Hagakure laughed.

                “You look amazing! I almost didn’t recognize you!” he complimented. She stood in shock from his sudden normal compliment, and cleared her throat.

                “Thanks,” she said. Looking at him and his outfit. She smiled at him.

                “You look great too!” Aoi commented. Hagakure stood still, grinning like an idiot.

                “Great! I was hoping you’d like my tank top!” He pointed at the dolphin on the tank top, on the left part of his chest. “I named it after you, because you swim really well! Like a dolphin!”

                “You’re awfully nice today,” she pointed out. “Do you want anything from me?”

                He frowned, appearing offended. Her heart sank a little to see that she upset him. _Just like a puppy_ , she thought to herself. He then spoke.

                “All I want from you is some company,” he admitted. She turned red, and before she could answer, a band stepped out on stage. It was the opening band, and people cheered for them. They played quite a few songs, and the students kind of got into it, but weren’t too impressed. Aoi checked her phone, and it was already evening. After another hour, the band walked off the stage. A giant flag then drooped onto the back wall of the stage, showing the symbol of Drink 182. The band stepped into their positions on stage, waving at the audience. Aoi and Sakura started screaming with as much enthusiasm as they could muster. The lead singer stood forward and waved to the audience, who were still screaming. He chuckled into the microphone, and began speaking.

                “Wow, the smell of marijuana is everywhere in this place… it’s so sad all of you guys have cataracts,” he joked. Aoi and Hagakure let out a good laugh, applauding him. He continued. “We’re Drink 182, and we’re gonna have a shitton of fun! Let’s party!”

                Their first song, “Feeling That”, was being performed. Everyone in the pit moved around to the music, singing along and jumping. Aoi took a picture on her phone and put her phone back in her pocket. She then danced with Sakura, letting all her worries and cares drift away for the rest of the night. With every new song they performed, was one more time for dancing and screaming for Aoi. She caught a bra flying onto the stage, and she laughed, knowing exactly who threw it. The bassist saw it and began laughing, taking his face away from the microphone. Junko started a mosh pit, and a bunch of the other people in the pit began to swing their arms and shout excitedly. Aoi thought it was quite the spectacle. Hagakure grabbed Aoi’s hand once a faster song came on, and the two danced together. Nothing particularly special about their dancing, but they were laughing and having fun.

                They punched the air and kicked their legs, shouting the song lyrics along with the band to the heavens. He spun her, and she twirled around, dancing her heart out. Mondo put Chihiro on his shoulders, and Chihiro pumped up her arms along with the music. Ishimaru started his robot moves, impressing a few people around him. Hagakure jumped into the pit after a few minutes and started breakdancing, limbs and hands flying around quick enough to nearly become a blur. The people surround the pit cheered him on, and he stood up and ran to pull Aoi in with him, the two continuing their fun dancing. The kicked and shouted and he picked her up and spun her, then set her down from his arms being in pain from two seconds of holding her. She gave him a look before everyone continued on with dancing.

                The concert lasted into the night, and after the last song, confetti shot out of cannons on the stage onto everyone on the pit. The lead singer, panting, spoke into the microphone one last time.

                “Thank you for coming, we’re Drink 182 and we hope you had a fuckin’ good time!” Everyone screamed as they left, and everyone in the stadium started clearing out. Hagakure reached to Asahina’s shoulder, breathing heavily.

                “Thanks for dancing with me,” he said with a tired smile. She nodded back at him.

                “You’re an incredible dancer, where’d you learn to move like that?” she asked, breathing as heavily as he was. He shrugged.

                “I don’t know, I guess I let the music do what it wants! I think you’re a good dancer too,” he replied.

Sayaka approached the bodyguards that guarded backstage, and only smiled at them. They recognized her, and gladly let her in. Aoi watched the backstage entrance until she held up the album Leon handed to her, autographed. She smiled. _She really did it for him_ , she thought. Sayaka showed off the album to Kirigiri and Mukuro, and the autograph read “To Leon, may you always be the king of punk. Keep making crappy punk rock, and have a fuckin’ great life!” They patted Sayaka’s shoulders and backs, telling her how much Leon would love it.

The group of students walked out, all shouting in excitement about their favorite songs, or how next time they should bring Leon so he could show them how to mosh properly. Sayaka, Yamada, and Ishimaru were the first to hurry to the merchandise, where Chihiro and Mondo followed quickly after. Chihiro was still on Mondo’s shoulders, and sang some of the songs that the band performed earlier. Mondo sang backup vocals for Chihiro, still feeling the adrenaline rush of the concert. Sayaka turned back to the group as she moved closer to the front of the line, and everyone pinched in a bit of money. She then bought a black sweater with the Drink 182 music, and on the back it read “Shitty punk rock”. Everyone cheered.

                “He’s going to love that,” Kirigiri said with a smile. Sayaka giggled.

                “I know, it’s perfect for him!”

                Everyone made their way back to the parking lot after buying themselves some merchandise. They all walked back quickly, becoming more tired and sore by the minute. The drive back to the school, for Mukuro’s van at least, was relatively calm. The girls just chatted about the cool stuff they bought and how pumped they were for another concert coming up.

                “I think we should all thank Asahina,” Kirigiri declared, wearing a new Drink 182 t-shirt. Mukuro agreed.

                “Yes, if it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have had all this fun.” Aoi looked at all the girls in the car, clapping and cheering for her, then they all stopped and held their throats. Sakura piped up.

                “I think we may lose our voices for a good week,” she stated hoarsely. Celestia hummed.

                “You’re right, but I had the most splendid time tonight. I believe it was worth it.”

                “We didn’t pick up anyone hot though,” Junko complained, her voice becoming just as weak as everyone else’s.  Aoi rubbed her throat, groaning. It almost felt like rubbing against sandpaper when she swallowed. Mukuro pulled into the school parking lot and parked near the front.

                “Let’s just sleep in and skip breakfast,” she weakly suggested.

                “Why, what time is it?” Sayaka asked, yawning. Aoi checked her phone and it read 23:58. She gasped.

                “It was that long!?” she gawked, then rubbed her throat. The girls got out of the car. Everyone else was walking into the hall, and they saw Leon standing in the hallway. He smiled brilliantly at everyone that came in, and clasped his hands.

                “You all have fun!?” he enthusiastically questioned. Sayaka nodded as everyone bunched up, answering with tired or enthusiastic “yeahs”. She then held up a bag, and gave it to him. Leon raised his brow and took the sweater out of the bag and chuckled heartily, then hugging Sayaka.

                “You guys shouldn’t have! This is the best shit I’ve seen in a while!” he enthused, putting it on. Everyone cheered to the best of their exhausted ability, and eventually walked back to their rooms. Aoi still watched them talk. Sayaka held up a finger to Leon, then pulled out the CD case he gave her earlier. He shouted in excitement, hugging Sayaka tightly. Nobody else paid attention as they all were going into their rooms and didn’t bother to look back. Sayaka gave him a kiss on the cheek and skipped away to her room. He watched her skip away, then did a celebratory dance all the way to his room. Aoi smiled before opening her door. Hagakure tugged on Aoi’s arm just before she walked into her room. Tired, she couldn’t even muster the ability to smile at him.

                “What is it?” she asked sleepily. He smiled at her, excited.

                “I have a fortune for you!” he exclaimed. She blinked, suddenly remembering again that he was a psychic. She sighed and crossed her arms.

                “Let’s hear it.”

                “You’re going to get that puppy you wanted!” he announced to her happily. She raised her brow, skeptical.

                “Am I?”

                “Yes! Isn’t that great? You’re going to get that Poopie – or, what was it called, Puki? I don’t remember. But right – payment! You now owe me 100,000 yen!”

                Aoi scoffed and snarled at him.

                “No, no, no. _You_ approached _me_. I did not tell you to find out my fortune for me. You asked me if I wanted to hear it. And besides, aren’t you correct only like, 20% of the time?”

                “I’m _100%_ correct _30%_ percent of the time!” he corrected her, his hands on his hips. He gave her a look, and the two stood staring at each other without budging. Hagakure exhaled.

                “Fine, because it’s you, it will be free. Just this once though! I’m in a generous mood,” he gave in, sticking his tongue out. She smiled happily and hugged him.

                “Thanks, Hagakure!” she exclaimed. He hugged her back with a big smile on his face. Aoi then widened her eyes, realizing she let her guard down again around him. She pulled away abruptly and cleared her throat.

                “I’m tired. Goodnight,” she goodbye-d, closing the door behind her as she walked into her room.

                “Goodnight!” Hagakure called from the other side of the door. She shook her head, smiling. _Too precious and too cute_ , she thought to herself. _Just like a puppy_. She lied on her bed, then dozed off into sleep. Her smile remained on her face for the rest of the night.


	9. A School Year You'll Never Forget: Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Still recovering from Friday, the tired students receive news that school begins on Monday! And Aoi hears a confession from an unsuspecting student!

                The rest of the weekend flew by in a breeze. It was filled with sore, aching bodies and low, raspy voices recovering form concert hangover. Aoi lied on the couch in the lounge room, groaning in a fit of pain. Yamada was drawing on a tablet on a recliner next to the couch, and Mondo and Leon were playing billiards behind them. Aoi shifted her legs a little to get in a more comfortable position before being stopped.

                “Don’t move!” Yamada urged, his voice almost entirely recovered. Aoi gave him an odd look.

                “What?” she groggily asked.

                “My lady, I insist you remain still! I hope you do not mind that I am using your current pose as a drawing reference!” Yamada informed. Aoi nodded sleepily, and then yawned.

                “That’s a-okay with me,” Aoi replied, moving back to her original position. Naegi walked in and greeted everyone, then sat in the chair next to Yamada, looking at his drawing.

                “Hey, you’re incredible at illustrating!” Naegi complimented, leaning in from behind Yamada. He pointed at the screen, and after, looked at Aoi.

                “The clothing folds are exact! This is amazing!” Yamada waved Naegi off with a hearty laugh.

                “Ah, Naegi, this is simply what I do! However, I’m more than happy to receive such praises!” he declared, grinning. “However, I am making posing references for master Hagakure, who has paid me a hearty amount to assist him in improving his drawing skills!” Aoi looked at Yamada.

                “Hagakure?”

                “Yes!” Yamada affirmed, “the fortune teller was quite interested in becoming an expresser of thought and emotion through the brushes and strokes of pens and pencils! And nobody in the nation is more suited than me to be fit for such a job!” Aoi giggled at his little speech. He was very confident in his talent, much more than most of the students at the school. Yamada gestured her to go back to her original position, and she obliged.

                “I’m almost finished,” Yamada breathed out, making strokes on his tablet. Leon and Mondo pointed at Yamada’s screen, commenting on how amazing he was. They turned to Naegi and they each rested a hand on either shoulder on him.

                “So Naegi, ya never told us, what’s your talent, eh?”

                “Are you like, a fuckin’ mathematician genius or some shit?”

                Naegi laughed and turned to face the two, and he laughed them off.

                “No, my talent isn’t much of a talent at all,” he answered modestly. Aoi spoke up.

                “Oh, don’t be so humble Naegi!” she encouraged. Yamada set his tablet down and started saving his sketches.

                “Please do share with us, what is it that you’re so great at?” he piped in curiously. Naegi sighed and began to speak after moments of anticipation-filled silence.

                “My talent is good luck,” he finally announced. Everyone’s expressions faltered in disappointment.

                “You’re kidding, right? Maybe this guy’s a Super High School Level joker,” Leon grumbled.

                “If he was a joker, he’d be funnier you fuckin’ moron,” Mondo whispered back. Naegi explained himself.

                “I know, it sounds ridiculous, but it’s true. The thing is, my luck works in very odd ways.” Aoi sat up, and Leon sat next to her on the couch, listening.

                “Go on, this better be fuckin’ good.”

                “Well, good luck comes to me in really weird ways. Like last Friday, the night of the concert, we were all walking back to the parking lot from the concert. But I tripped and had this really nasty fall and landed right on the curb,” Naegi began. Mondo’s brows furrowed.

                “Yeah, I remember seeing that, but that don’t sound like no good luck to me!”

                “Well before I got up, I found this,” Naegi opened his wallet and held out multiple bills, adding up to 100,000 yen. Leon gasped and pointed at Naegi.

                “So what you’re saying is, you got into this fuckin’ popsicle stand because the school board just heard of you and they was all, ‘oh, ya know what? Let’s just invite this kid. He’ll be fuckin’ stoked. Let’s just send this one lucky kid with no actual talent to one of the most prestigious high schools in the fuckin’ country. That’ll make his day.’ And then they all agreed it was a fuckin’ great idea. Is that the shit you’re tellin’ me?” Leon ranted. The others turned to Naegi, silent. Naegi nodded.

                “Pretty much, I guess.”

                “Huh,” Leon said, sitting back into the couch. “That’s a pretty useful talent. Wish I had it.”

                “That is quite interesting!” Yamada commented, fixing his glasses. “What frightening skills!”

                “Well, thanks, but it’s not really a skill. I’m actually just an average guy that was invited to come here.”

                “But I think we’re the lucky ones for having such a good friend like you!” Aoi chirped, smiling. Naegi smiled softly.

                “Thanks,” he uttered. Sakura opened the door to the lounge, and peered her head in.

                “Did you all get your calendars yet?” she asked. Everyone looked at each other, confused. Mondo crossed his arms.

                “What calendars?”

                “The calendars for the school year?” Aoi asked, standing up from the couch. Sakura nodded.

                “Yes, but that’s not all, I bear terrible news,” Sakura said with gloom in her tone. Yamada rested his laptop down and placed his hands on his hips.

                “How terrible?” he questioned conspicuously. Sakura sighed and opened the calendar to September, and pointed to the second Monday of the month. It was labeled with a red marking.

                “Classes start tomorrow.”

                The entire room booed and hissed, groaning in dread. Leon flopped to the floor, whining and rolling around, making pained noises. Mondo clenched his fists in anger, and then shouted inaudible noises angrily. Naegi slumped in his seat and leaned his head back with a groan. Aoi watched them all have their individual fits, almost entertained.

                “You all seem excited,” she sarcastically commented. Leon whined louder.

                “We were havin’ such a good fuckin’ break! I don’t even want to think ‘bout that terrible ‘s’ word,” he replied, lying on his back.

                “I haven’t done my summer assignment yet!” Mondo yelled, running out quickly. Leon got up and ran after him in a panic, he probably hadn’t done it either. Naegi lied on the couch, groaning.

                “At least I did the assignment,” he mumbled. Yamada stood up, holding his artist tablet and laptop.

                “School is not any trouble at all! And if you are facing stress, you can always borrow one of my fantastic dating simulation games!” he declared.

                “I’ll pass,” Naegi groaned. Yamada exited the room. Sakura turned to Aoi and smiled.

                “I believe our uniforms are ready in the gymnasium. We should pick them up.”

                The girls left the lounge and ventured to the gym, where Chihiro was looking at a boy’s uniform and quickly turned to them, surprised. Chihiro clutched their chest, letting out a sigh of relief.

                “Oh, it’s just you two,” Chihiro quietly chirped out. Aoi raised an eyebrow.

                “Hey Chihiro! What are you doing with the boy’s uniforms?”

                “O-oh!” Chihiro gasped, “I was just looking at them. They look r-really nice. I’m sure the boys are going to look great in these.” Sakura smiled as she made way to the girls’ uniforms, and looked for her size. She held on up and looked at it, observing the sleeves.

                “Yes, these uniforms are quite high-quality, just as one would expect from such a prestigious school.”

                Aoi skipped over to the girls’ uniforms with Chihiro and pulled out a uniform that was in her size. She walked to the locker room, anxious to try it on. Aoi opened the door and let Sakura in, then called out to Chihiro.

                “Chihiro, you’re not trying uniforms on with us?” Chihiro flinched.

                “Uh, I’m still looking for my size, you two go on ahead!” Aoi held a thumbs-up and closed the door, setting the uniform down. Sakura already began changing, and the door bursted open, making Sakura and Aoi yell in surprise. It was Mukuro, and she held an outfit as well. She closed the door gently behind her, and stood next to Aoi, beginning to change.

                “Did I disturb you?” Mukuro questioned. Aoi looked down to what she was wearing, just her shorts and a bra, and looked back up.               

                “Yes, you might have caught me off guard. Please don’t slam the door open like that! Someone could see… again.”

                “I’m sincerely sorry,” she apologized, “I’m just a little put off today.”

                “Not looking forward to school?” Aoi asked. Mukuro shook her head, then put on the uniform shirt.

                “Not at all.”

                “Join the club, we have shirts,” Sakura added, pulling up her skirt. Aoi began putting on her shirt and got stuck. She turned to Mukuro, and nudged her with her hip. Mukuro turned to Aoi, whose arms were still in the air, stuck in the sleeves. She then started to try to pull down her shirt, and continued to pull it down to no avail. Sakura cracked her knuckles and gently set Mukuro aside. Sakura pulled down Asahina’s shirt with all her might, and a horrible sound echoed through the locker room.

                “Aoi,” Sakura began with a gentle voice. Aoi’s frown was more than apparent, realizing the situation.

                “It ripped, didn’t it?”

                “Yes my girl, it did.”

                “Can you please get me the next size up then?”

                Sakura ran out after checking the size as quickly as she could. Mukuro put on her uniform with ease. She eyed Asahina curiously.

                “What size was that uniform?”

                “I don’t want to talk about it,” Aoi snapped. It was worse than she expected. She hadn’t been watching her diet the entire time she’d been at the school, and it was apparent how much of a toll it’s been taking on her. Sakura ran back in with a new uniform in hand. Mukuro tugged Aoi’s top off and let her stretch her arms.

                “Ugh, my arms were getting stiff,” she grumbled, reaching for the next uniform. She put on the skirt with ease, still a little upset about the uniform ripping. She put on the shirt with a small struggle, but it didn’t get stuck like the last one. She looked in the mirror, beginning to re-tie her ponytail. Sakura rested a hand on her shoulder.

                “Do not fret, perhaps these uniforms run small,” Sakura encouraged. Asahina sighed sadly.

                “Yeah, let’s hope so.”

                The girls put their regular clothes in their athletic bags and walked into the gym, where Chihiro was already dressed and waiting for them. Aoi waved at Chihiro, and then skipped over.

                “Hey! You changed by yourself?” Aoi asked.

                “Yes, I wanted to change b-by myself. I just like my privacy,” Chihiro answered. Sakura raised a brow.

                “You must be quite a quick runner, the dorm rooms are quite far away.”

                “I’m f-faster than I appear!” Chihiro blurted suddenly, then covered their mouth. Aoi’s brows rose from Chihiro’s weird behavior. She smiled uncomfortably at Chihiro, and began walking away.

                “Well, okay then. See ya ‘round!” she goodbye-d, heading back to her room with her bag. Sakura followed her, twirling her hair. Aoi looked up to Sakura. The fighter looked to her friend and smiled reassuringly, waving her off.

                “Don’t worry, nothing is troubling me too much,” she assured Aoi.

                “Are you sure?”

                “Well, it’s just – “ Sakura looked around the hall; it was empty. She walked again towards the rooms with Aoi, slower than usual.

                “Don’t you think Chihiro was acting suspicious?” she inquired, critically thinking to herself. Aoi blinked. She scratched her head.

                “Now that I think of it, Chihiro was being weird.”

                The athletes stood alone, wondering what could be leading to Chihiro’s odd behavior. They couldn’t come up with a plausible reason any other than she might be nervous for school or may be on their period or something along those lines. After chatting amongst themselves in the hallway for minutes, they agreed to meet at the pool deck in half an hour. They went off to their rooms. Sakura walked into hers, and Aoi kept walking to her door. She heard two voices walking down the hall, and she walked into her room, but kept the door slightly open, listening.

                “Ya want me to do what?” a voice questioned in a  low octave. The other voice giggled happily.

                “I want you to meet me tonight at the parking lot, after dinner! I think we should spend quality time together after s-school,” the sweet voice replied. Aoi listened harder.

                “Is this some kind a weird-ass prank? Am I bein’ Punk’d?”

                “N-no! I’m inviting you out. No – I’m asking you out. On a date.”

                “A date!?” the voice exclaimed in surprise. The other voice hushed them.

                “Sh! You want the others to hear? I kind of want this… whatever this is, at low key until at least week into school. So that what’s going on between us won’t be their only focus. Remember that morning in the cafeteria? Yeah. So let’s just wait until they relax a little.”

                Aoi tried to sneak a peek, looking out the opening of her door. She saw the very two people she suspected from the beginning. It was Leon and Sayaka, leaning against a wall. They were standing pretty close, and she fixed his collar again. Aoi smirked, but decided not to barge in on their privacy. She heard all she needed to, and closed her door quietly. Before heading to her dresser, she recalled Friday’s incident and locked the door. _Just to be safe._

                The smug grin on her face didn’t wipe itself off for the entirety of her changing into her swimsuit. She re-tied her ponytail again, this time pulling back her bangs as well. She put on her flip flops and grabbed her swim bag, then opened the door to see Leon standing in the hall alone. She didn’t want to make eye contact with him, knowing what his plans were that night. Aoi nodded at him politely and made way to the pool deck early before running into another student. He turned to her and smiled, saluting her.

                “Good afternoon, Miss Asahina!” Ishimaru greeted happily. She saluted him back, grinning.

                “Hey Ishimaru, what’s up?”

                “I am quite excited to begin our classes tomorrow! Finally, we get to obtain the best education our great nation has to offer! How could one not be excited?

                “I know, it sounds wonderful!” _I am so not excited_.

                “Ah, dressed for the pool? That sounds terrific! I think I shall swim as well!” he proudly said, putting his hands on his hips. She adjusted her swim bag’s straps and shrugged.

                “Well, I guess you can. Sakura and I were just going to do a few laps. Maybe I’ll just swim a 3200 today?” Aoi thought out loud. Ishimaru’s eyes twinkled in amazement.

                “To hear you mention such a distance with complete nonchalance shows your true strength as a swimmer! I believe I would have quite a difficult time keeping up with you! However, that does not mean I will not try my best!” Ishimaru announced before running into his room with a determined expression on his face. Aoi shook her head.

                “He really is something else,” she muttered to herself before continuing to walk to the pool deck. As she opened the door, she grinned at the vicinity. The salty aroma of chlorinated water filled her nose, and the calm appearance of the pool gave her a feeling of both happiness and nostalgia. She set her bag on the bleachers and kicked off her flip flops, and hung her goggles around her neck. She then headed to the pool’s storage room and pulled out the lane line wheel, preparing for making lanes in the deeper end of the pool. She unraveled a long strand of the lane line wire until she unhooked the whole strand, and threw one end of it into the pool. Aoi rushed to her bag and put on her swim cap, and dove into the deep end of the pool. The water rushed around her body, refreshing her skin. She swam to the surface and inhaled the sweet air, and smiled. She was where she belonged. Just her and the pool.

                Aoi began to swim the lane line to the other end of the pool, hooking it up and swimming freestyle to the other end and hooked up the lane line. She then pushed her body out of the water using the ledge, and sat on the ledge for a moment, already feeling her breath becoming tired. She stood up and glanced at the diving block, and touched it softly. Aoi glanced around to see if nobody was still around, and pulled out the stop clock from the storage room, and set it on the side of the pool. She set it on 59:00, and quickly stretching out her limbs, then climbing onto the diving block. She glanced at the clock again. 59:30. Aoi watched the water slowly return to its calm, untouched state. Her breathing slowed down in mental preparation. 59:40. Her legs bent subtly, preparing for a powerful jumping stance. She cracked her knuckles. 59:50. Her arms stretched for the edge of the block, and she exhaled calmly. Her body was crouched in the right position, waiting patiently. Aoi felt time slow down around her as she waited for the seconds to pass. With one final glance, she inhaled one last breath. 00:00.

                Her dive was both powerful and graceful into the water, and she held her streamline and dolphin kick for as long as she was underwater. As she resurfaced, she extended each arm out alternatively, kicking in a precise rhythm. Aoi reached the wall and flip-turned, pushing with as much power as she could exert. She dolphin kicked again with her precise streamline, and resurfaced. Her body glided across the blue mass with the same momentum and pace for several laps. She refused to stop. She refused to let any turn or breath be her last. That’s what made her better than any other swimmer in the country; it was Aoi’s aquatic endurance that made her completely unmatched.

 She remembered the mornings, afternoons, evenings, nights, canceled sleepovers, canceled parties, days, months, years she spent in water for countless hours. All those hours, all that time was invested to become the very best at what she does. She found it almost absurd, because she never intended on becoming the greatest. All Aoi did was do what made her happy, and that was being in the water. She never could have imagined that doing what she loved would have gotten her into the most prestigious school in the nation. She flip-turned again, continuing this pattern for countless laps. After an unknown amount of time, she decided to switch strokes.

She turned onto her back, beginning the backstroke. Her breathing continued to be in a calculated rhythm that she had perfected from years of being in the water. Aoi continued to think to herself as she swam. She flip-turned again. As she pulled and kicked, the faces of all her fellow students popped into her mind. They were all accepted into the school for being the best. But a few cases still hung in the back of her mind. Naegi’s case was extremely unusual, being invited just to be invited. Although, that did make him arguably the luckiest high school student possibly in the world. And then there was Leon, who wanted to leave baseball behind him and become a musician. She flip-turned again. Aoi was unsure if Leon would stay in the school on his baseball scholarship. Would they kick him out if he abandoned his talent? What would become of him if he dropped out? If he played baseball so much to become the very greatest at it, wouldn’t he have still loved it? She stopped at the ledge that she began at, resting under the diving block. She turned to the clock and raised her brows at the time it read. 43:56. She’d been swimming for over forty minutes already? Aoi looked around and saw Sakura and Ishimaru swimming in lanes parallel to her. Sakura’s stroke was slow but very graceful. Ishimaru’s was quick but very geometric and could easily be described as jagged. Aoi pushed herself and sat on the ledge, her legs still hanging off and swishing around in the water.

“As much as I hate to admit it, you really are an impressive swimmer,” remarked a voice. She removed her swim cap, panting, and turned to the source of the voice. It was the heir, standing with a large sports bag in his hand and wearing a bright blue speedo. Aoi shot him a look, holding back her snickering.

“Thank you,” she said suspiciously. “What are you doing here?”

“I can go anywhere in the school as I please, just like you. It should be apparent that you are not the only one interested in fitness. Not to mention you’re failing in holding up the idealistic athletic physique, anyway.”

“ _Excuse me!?”_

“Are you quite done? I’d like to – “

She had rushed to him and slapped him clean across the face before he finished his request. The glasses fell to the floor with a few small clinks. He stood frozen in place, shocked. The slap echoed in the pool area, with a clean ring due to the acoustics. She glared at him.

“Don’t you talk about my body that way!” she scolded, holding a finger up at him intimidatingly. He attempted to regain composure, and held his hands out defensively.

“Do not get the wrong idea,” he spat out, “I wasn’t trying to insult you. However, I do realize that you and I cannot seem to warm up to one another.”

“I wonder why,” she mumbled. He shot her a look.

“As much as I hate doing so, I apologize for my remark earlier. I was simply stating that you do not share the physique of an average elite athlete. Nothing necessarily bad, just a fact. In fact your physique suits you.”

“What do you want from me?” she hissed, not impressed by his attempt to be kind. Togami sighed and picked up his glasses. The constant stern expression on his face melted into one showing vulnerability. Aoi’s sassy face blinked in confusion. He put back on his glasses and whispered.

“I need your help,” he whispered embarrassedly. Her brows shot up, completely stunned.

“What!? _You’re_ asking _me_ for help!?” Aoi harshly whispered in return. “Why don’t you ask Fukawa?! His face twitched.

“Because this is something that she cannot help me with!” he shot back. Aoi leaned in, curious.

“I need you to teach me how to swim,” he softly whispered, even covering his mouth. She stood back, amazed. Aoi wasn’t sure how to feel about him admitting this to her, out of all the students, she hated him the most. And he was more than aware of that. She put her hands on her hips.

“Why?” she pried. He glared at her.

“Do I need a reason?!” Togami retorted.

“For lessons from me, yes.”

“I…” he trailed off, shaking. Aoi’s brows furrowed, and she wondered if he was going to cry or something. _I hope it’s not that, I really can’t handle that right now_. He clenched his fists.

“I am the heir to the great Togami Conglomerate,” he began, putting his hand on his chest. “A-and in order to be an effective leader of such wealth and power, I must be unafraid of anything…”

Aoi listened in, completely interested in what else he had to say. Togami continued.

“So I need you to teach me to not be afraid of swimming,” he finished weakly. Aoi gasped, stunned at him admitting weakness.

“But weren’t you in the pool at the night of the pool party?”

“Yes, I was, but I remained in the extremely shallow area and remained close to an edge. Additionally, with all the other students around, I couldn’t bear to show any sign of weakness. Which by the way, nobody must know about this conversation. Not even your beloved Sakura.”

“I had no idea you were so set in looking invincible, even just to us.”

“I must maintain my image of being a fearless leader of millions. Now, I’d like us to begin lessons tomorrow at exactly an hour and a half before dinner. I want us to have these lessons every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. There will be no arguing.”

“If I want to argue, I will!” Aoi shot back. He sneered.

“Any other useless conditions for your consent?”

“I need you to promise to not be a total jerk to me, at least during those lessons. Can you do that?” she questioned, crossing her arms. He groaned, then gave up and held out his hand.

“I’ll make an attempt to hold back a little, but just for the lessons. Hmm, I suppose it’s a deal.” Aoi extended her hand out and shook his firmly.

“Deal it is,” she agreed. “But I have one more question.”

“And what question could that possibly be?”

“If you don’t intend on starting lessons today, why are you in your speedo?”

“Haven’t you heard of a Jacuzzi? I’d like to rest in it for a while. I have important thinking to do. Now shoo and go do what you like,” Togami ordered, walking to the Jacuzzi. Aoi fumed and clenched her fists.

“I can’t believe I agreed to his stupid request,” she grumbled to herself. A door opened on the pool deck, and an insane amount of steam left the door as a tall figure walked out. It was Hagakure, but he was almost unrecognizable from his dreads being flattened down. He wore a towel around his waist, and Aoi cringed at his chest and pits. _We should get him some Nair and razors for Christmas._ Aoi was almost stunned from his altered appearance. She approached him curiously.

“What’s up with your hair, it looks… normal?” she inquired, feeling a strand. The fortune teller let out a hearty laugh.

“The steam flattens it out, so my dreads aren’t as poofy as they usually are!” he informed.

“Poofy is an understatement. Your dreadlocks usally defy gravity,” Aoi stated. He thought for a moment and nodded.

“Yes, I suppose they do. Oh, I saw you swim for a bit, by the way!” he declared, snapping his finger from remembering. She stood back.

“You did?”

“Yeah, I watched for a few minutes. It was amazing! I’ve never seen anyone swim with such… oh what’s that word?”

“No, please no more of you trying to find a word and making conversations awkward. I’ll be fine without a compliment.”

“Don’t you worry, I got myself a thesaurus! Just like Chihiro suggested! And I remembered the word!” he announced gladly. She folded her arms.

“Let’s hear it.”

“You swim with such loveliness and grace,” he complimented, then smugly put his hands on his hips, proud of himself. Aoi felt her face turn a little pink.

“Really?” she replied, trying not to smile. He nodded happily.

“Yes, you are the loveliest swimmer I’ve ever seen!” he paused, turning pink. “No, that’s not what I meant! Well – not that you _aren’t_ , but, uh… No, wait! You’re really lovely! Ack, no. Well, it’s true, but that’s not what I’m trying to say! You – swimming. You swim lovely. Your swimming is lovely. There, that’s what I meant.” He stuttered out, almost completely red. She began laughing, snorting and holding her stomach, then patted his shoulder.

“Thank you, it means a lot!” she thanked, helping him out of his misery. He laughed nervously, running his hands through his dreads.

“I need to get better at talking,” he mumbled. “Not that I don’t talk, I think I talk quite a bit. But it’s just, like, I talk a lot, but I don’t ever say anything sometimes. You know what I mean?”

“I get you just fine,” Aoi admitted with a shrug. His expression lightened instantly.

“You do?”

“When you speak, yeah! I feel like I’m beginning to understand you… as impossible of a task it may sound.” Hagakure smiled brilliantly. He was about to walk away, but stopped himself, and turned to her.

“What if I read your palm this week? How does Tuesday sound? Wanna meet on Tuesday?” he asked, snapping his fingers.

“You want me to do what?” she responded, untying her hair.

“I want you to meet me at the lounge on Tuesday! Uh, how does after dinner sound?”

“Are you being real? Or are you trying to pull a joke on me?”

“N-no! I’m asking you meet me at the lounge! Just with me. Y’know, a private reading?”

“A private reading?” she asked with her brow raised, he hushed her.

“Sh! I don’t want the other students to hear! I’m doing yours for free, and I don’t want them to get worked up or jealous or anything. My readings are pretty valuable. So let’s just keep it hush-hush!”

Before Aoi could respond, she stopped herself and had a quick realization. _This conversation… it sounds like…_ she paused, ignoring the thought, then smiled at him.

“Tuesday. After dinner. Lounge.” She listed, nodding. “Sounds good! I’ll meet you there!” Hagakure grinned and pointed at her.

“I’ll see you there then! Can’t wait!” he declared, excitedly walking out of the pool deck. Sakura suddenly stood by Asahina, drying her hair with her towel.

“You two having a date like Sayaka and Leon?” she asked, glancing down to Aoi. The brunette felt anger building up immediately and stomped her foot.

“It is _not_ a date!” she snapped, then stopped herself. “Wait, how’d you know about Leon and Sayaka?”

“I kept a small crease open in my door earlier,” she admitted, lowering her voice. “I had a feeling you did as well.”

“You know me too well,” Aoi said with a small laugh. Sakura smirked.

“I also know you well enough to tell you that you just accepted a date with Yasuhiro Hagakure.”

“It is _not_ a date, it is a reading!”

“You cannot fool me my girl, I am quite brighter than I appear.” Sakura began to make way for the bleachers, and Aoi jumped on her back. Sakura caught her with her arms, giving her a piggyback ride to the bleachers. The swimmer realized that all the swimming made her tired. Aoi groaned. She jumped off Sakura to put all her stuff back into the bag, and slipped her flip-flops back on. Sakura crouched down again, and turned back.

“I’ll carry you to your room, you look exhausted.” Aoi nodded, and jumped onto her back, letting Sakura carry her. Thoughts of sitting in classes and nights filled with homework flooded her tired mind. She rested her head on top of Sakura’s.

“How do you think this school year is going to go, Sakura?” Sakura hummed to herself as she thought, and she looked back up at Aoi with a smile.

“I think it may be a year we will never forget for the rest of our lives.”


	10. A School Year You'll Never Forget: Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the first day of the school year and the students are... somewhat excited. Unfortunately, Aoi's morning has to start out with her least favorite class...

                The next morning for most the students was painful. Breakfast was now set to be an hour earlier, and nobody could afford to be late on the first day. Aoi woke up at 5:19, looking out her window. It was still dark outside. She groaned and shuffled out of her bed, struggling for balance. She pulled out her uniform from her top dresser, and lazily put it on. She was still stumbling around when she walked around in her uniform. She headed to the bathroom, turning on the light. Her eyes stung from the sudden bright light. She hung her head down to avert her eyes from the source of light. As she waited a few minutes, she looked at her reflection.

                “Is that a… bump?” she mumbled out loud, looking at a small red bump above her brow. She shook her head. No, this couldn’t happen on the first week of school. _If I’m beginning to break out… then…_ She ran out the bathroom and checked her bed sheets after turning on the light, and realized the situation was worse than she expected. In a rush to check her drawer for products, she stubbed her toe onto her dresser and she shouted in pain, then fell to the floor in pain. She clutched the foot with one hand and reached out for her nightstand drawer with her other hand. She opened the drawer, and stood up once the pain was bearable. She saw the tampon box and reached for it quickly, and gasped. It was empty. She looked in the drawer desperately to see if any other fell out, and she screamed in terror. A loud knock came on her door, and she ran over, crossing her legs to prevent any further leaks. She quickly opened the door.

                “Good morning Miss Asahina!” Ishimaru greeted, saluting. “I hear loud noises in your room, is everything alright? Are you hurt?” Aoi contemplated whether telling him the situation or not, but she was desperate. She didn’t want to use toilet paper, and she hated pads. She exhaled.

                “Good morning Kiyotaka,” she greeted back hurriedly, “I need you to do me a favor. It may save my life.” Ishimaru became intrigued, and stood up straight.

                “First of all, is anyone else awake?”

                “I hear no noises in the other rooms, would you like me to check?”

                “Well this is kind of an emergency. I need your help right now!”

                “What kind of emergency is it?” he questioned, completely puzzled. Aoi hesitated, but after a moment she leaned in and whispered.

                “I need you to run to the infirmary and grab the first box of tampons you see,” she requested. He backed up with widened eyes in realization.

                “Oh! You mean an _emergency_ … Yes! I will be back as soon as possible! Please, wait right here and I will retrieve your feminine products!” He declared and immediately bolted down the hall. She watched him disappear in amazement. He really was fast. She closed the door until there was only a crease so she could hear for Ishimaru’s footsteps. Aoi was pleasantly surprised by his reaction; he was actually determined to help. She heard pounding footsteps and heavy breathing, and she opened the door. Ishimaru brought two boxes, and handed them to her with a bow.

                “I shall wait for you to complete changing!” he said, still in a bow. Aoi laughed it off.

                “That’s not necessary! I think you should continue patrolling the halls; you were doing such a great job! You even helped a student in need!” he began to lift his head slowly, grinning at her when he stood straight up. She saluted him with a giggle. “Now keep watch, Mr. Hall Monitor!”

                “Yes, Miss Asahina!” he responded saluting her back, laughing happily. She waved him goodbye and closed the door, and finished all her changing and stuck extra products in her backpack. She then finished with putting on eyeliner and some lip gloss, and walked out the door. Ishimaru was still pacing the hall, carefully listening to all the noises in the rooms for another possible noise. She waved to him.

                “I’m going to breakfast, ‘kay?” she told him. He held a thumbs-up for her and smiled.

                “I will be there in five minutes!” Ishimaru announced. Aoi nodded and skipped down the hall with her backpack on, humming to herself. She opened the cafeteria door, and turned on the lights. There was a projector set up with a screen facing the far end of the cafeteria. She shrugged and danced over to the food, smelling the aroma. Every single article of food was calling out to her, she piled her plate with all the food. As she passed the drinks, she thought for a moment before grabbing the whole milk.

                “No, I need to watch what I put in my mouth!” she scolded herself as she grabbed a glass of 2% milk instead. She walked over to her usual table, seeing the door swing open. It was Ishimaru, as expected. Aoi internally congratulated herself for being earlier than him into the cafeteria. It was like being able to walk on water. He sat at her table and pulled out a bento box, and smiled at her pile of foods.

                “I see you’re attempting to eat all your food groups in one sitting! That is very impressive!” he complimented. Aoi smiled.

                “Thank you! I decided that I should watch my calories though, so instead of getting whole milk I got 2%.”

                Ishimaru’s expression became thoughtful and he stroked his chin, nodding in understanding. “Yes, that is a smart way to cut off some calories from your breakfast.” He then began to eat his breakfast, chewing excitedly. Aoi dug into her breakfast too, wolfing down every possible morsel of food on her plate. She completed the task in five minutes, and finished off by drinking her glass of milk. Ishimaru was frozen in place, staring at her plate and not blinking.

                “Did you just… consume all of that?”

                “You guys have never been around swimmers before, have you?” she replied sassily, wiping her mouth with her napkin. Ishimaru laughed.

                “Perhaps not enough to understand you! Are you aliens? Are your stomachs bigger than ours? Tell me your secrets!” he demanded, and laughed heartily. Aoi laughed at his silliness. Even when he wasn’t that funny, him attempting at being silly at all made him twice as funny as anyone else. A lot of the other students thought he wasn’t fun at all, but he’s just as much of a teenager as the rest of them. Aoi smiled at Ishimaru’s warmth. They continued to have a conversation as more students came into the cafeteria, and they all decided to push the tables together to make one large table. Everyone sat together, having their own conversations and jokes and gossip. Aoi leaned on Sakura’s shoulder happily. Sakura took some strands of Aoi’ hair and began to braid. All of a sudden, the lights went out and sounds of confusion filled the cafeteria.

                “Please, guys, please don’t panic! Maybe the power went out!” Naegi reassured. “Or maybe it’s some weird orientation thing!”

                “No, that’s not it,” Kirigiri replied confidently. The projector turned on and everyone faced it. It showed a man sitting at a desk. The nametag was unrecognizable, but the rest of the resolution was clear for the most part.

                “Good morning students, welcome to your first day of Hope’s Peak Academy,” the man greeted. Everyone watched intently. Aoi cocked her head to the side.

                “I am the headmaster of the school, and I sincerely apologize for not being at the school to see your bright faces. However, there is serious business I must attend to with the board of education. I apologize again for not being to explain earlier, but I replaced the faculty with A.I.’s called ‘Monobears’. They are extremely intelligent, and will guide you and teach you with the same quality education we usually offer, if not better. I promise we will return to the school as soon as possible, but recently, there have been a few issues that are very difficult to pass. I can personally assure you all that I will return within this month and your school year will continue as normal. Also, to make things exciting for you students while we were gone, we decided to incorporate ‘class trials’ with exciting, fun prizes as a gift to you and an apology we can’t be there to enjoy the school year with you. Thank you for listening, have a terrific school year.”

                The screen went dark and the lights turned on, and Monobear jumped out.

                “Upupupu, good morning you losers!” he greeted, dancing on their table. Everyone stood back from his sudden appearance.

                “Yes, it’s true, I’m not a real bear… I must apologize to everyone that thought so!”

                “Nobody thought that in the first place,” Togami scoffed. Monobear jumped to him, insulted.

                “Who said you could speak for everyone!? You think you represent the student body? Fat chance, rich boy! Upupupu!” Monobear bonked Togami’s nose and danced around on the table.

                “Now, I really didn’t want to blow my own horn, but – “ and in an instant, Monobear pulled out a horn and blew it. The sound pierced through everybody’s ears. Papers fell from the ceiling, and landed in front of the students. Aoi pulled opened her paper and saw that it was a schedule for classes. Sakura opened hers and showed it to Aoi.

                “We have the same classes!” Aoi cheered excitedly. Monobear patted Aoi softly on the head.

                “Upupupu, yes! Because your class is so small this year, everyone will be having classes together! How great is that!? All of you will be best friends by the end of the month!” Monobear began to sob and pulled out a handkerchief, and blew their nose. “Ah, the thought of it stirs feelings of unmixed delight!” He threw the handkerchief onto Yamada’s face, which freaked him out and he threw it off. It then landed on Celestia’s hair, and she flicked it off back onto the table. Aoi watched Celestia whisper death threats to Yamada, who was trembling in indescribable fear. Monobear danced away into the hallway. Junko loudly groaned.

                “Five classes, are you _kidding_ me? That’s just gross. And all an hour long!? Don’t we get any breaks?!”

                “I-it seems there’s s-still lunch break,” Fukawa quietly added. “I-it also appears to be an hour l-long.

                “Yeah, but look at the first class,” Naegi nervously said. Everyone looked back to their schedules. Aoi’s face went pale. Junko grunted.

                “Oh, _fuck_ no! I am not dealing with physical education in the fucking morning! You know what that means? No makeup to breakfast. I’m going to be a hag! Quick – Muko, I love you. Tell Mom she can have my acrylic set. I’m going to jump off the roof of this place!”

                “Please, no need to be melodramatic,” Mukuro urged, bonking her sister on the head. The cafeteria then discussed the rest of the oncoming classes with either feelings of excitement, dread, or indifference. Aoi caught Chihiro running out the door while nobody else was looking, and Aoi’s face scrunched in confusion. _Where is she going?_ Sakura stood up and cleared off her tray into the trash; Aoi followed her. Sakura glanced back down to the schedule and sighed.

                “I suppose we must make way for the gym and change into our uniforms. Also, from now on, I’m supervising your breakfast meals.”

                “What!? Why!?” Aoi fumed, clenching her fists. Sakura held her hands out in defense.

                “You cannot consume as much food as you always do before we exercise. It could result in stomach cramps or nausea. I do not want my girl getting sick and missing our favorite class,” she explained. Aoi scoffed.

                “Favorite class. Yeah, right.”

                “No need to be so upset, this class also offers swimming opportunities,” Sakura informed with a smile. “And we all know you’re looking forward to that.”

                Aoi’s angry expression mellowed itself into a frown. She shrugged and folded her arms.

                “I suppose you’re right, Sakura.”

                “I’m always right, my dear.”

                They walked into the gym and into the girl’s locker room where their uniforms were laid out for them on the benches, with their names on the back of the shirts. Aoi’s found hers and looked at the size, and cringed. Sakura glanced at it and hissed her teeth in worry.

                “Do you want me to find the next size up?” Sakura asked quietly. Aoi undressed herself.

                “No, I’m going to fit into this! I can do it!” Aoi exclaimed with determination. She pulled up the shorts and she sighed in relief; they were stretchy. She then turned to the t-shirt with the same look of willpower and put it on with all her strength. She managed to pull it onto her body, and she grinned and turned to Sakura, who was already finished for two minutes.

                “I did it!” Aoi announced, making a powerful stance. Junko slapped Aoi’s bottom and laughed.

                “Yeah, but a small tad of your butt cheeks are hanging out!” she chimed. Aoi covered her butt and felt her face turn red.

                “And your belly button is showing,” Kirigiri added, changing into her uniform. Aoi covered her stomach as well. Sayaka smiled at the girls and gasped at Aoi. She approached her and tickled her stomach.

                “Aww, what a cute tummy!” Sayaka chirped. Aoi wiggled around, squeaking out small laughs and “stops” as Sayaka engaged in a tickle attack. Celestia walked up to the group in her uniform. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at her.

                “Y-your hair!” Sayaka shouted. Celestia’s expression remained the same. Aoi cocked her head to the side, pondering. Kirigiri observed Celestia’s hair and felt it, then snapped her finger and pointed at it.

                “Extensions,” she spoke, “you wear extensions.”

                “What else could it have possibly been?” Celestia said. Sakura stood up and walked out into the gym, and Mukuro silently followed after her.

                “But I thought it was your real hair!” Aoi exclaimed, still in shock. Celestia giggled to herself quietly.

                “You can’t assume that what you see on someone’s surface is all there is to them. It makes situations like these very uncomfortable, wouldn’t you agree?”

                Celesta escorted herself out, humming. Aoi turned to Kirigiri, who exhaled while beginning to exit the locker room.

                “I suppose she has an excellent point,” she whispered. Aoi followed them out with Junko and Sayaka behind her. Everyone was in the gym, huddled in small social groups and talking to themselves. Sakura waved Aoi down. Aoi ran over, hoping nobody would pay attention to her uniform. Mondo nodded at Aoi with a grin, and Chihiro waved shyly. Ishimaru saluted Asahina with a bright smile.

                “We were just wondering what we would be doing today for the first day,” Sakura started. Chihiro shuddered.

                “I just hope it’s not that awful beeper test,” Chihiro said with a tremble. Mondo raised a brow.

                “Eh, what beeper test?” he asked. Aoi glanced at Sakura, who didn’t know either. Chihiro looked at all their faces, expressing horror from gym’s past.

                “Y-you’ve never done it!?” Chihiro gasped. Everyone in the circle had clueless faces. Chihiro sighed.

                “Well, back at my other school, there was this terrible beeper test w-where all the students would line up on one side of the basketball court, and every time the machine beeped they would have to run to the other side. I-it’s supposed to help monitor your pacing. And after a certain number of beeps, the levels get h-harder. Meaning that the beeps come faster and faster,” they explained. Ishimaru scratched his head.

                “I suppose that does not sound too terrible! I’m sure our class could handle it very well! Have faith, Miss Fujisaki!” Ishimaru declared. Chihiro gave him a dirty look.

                “I guess y-you’ll ignore my warning,” they quietly said. Monobear jumped onto the stage with a stereo system and a microphone.

                “Congratulations to Chihiro Fujisaki for correctly predicting today’s plan!” Monobear announced. Hagakure gasped.

                “Hey! That’s my job!”

                “W-what!?” Chihiro responded with horror. Monobear laughed.

                “Upupupu, it’s true! The Pacer test is our plan for today’s class! I want to know the abilities of this year’s students! It’s really quite a mix!”

                “No! Not that Pacer test!” Naegi shouted. Aoi turned to him.

                “Is it that bad!?” Aoi asked. Naegi nodded, his face locked in dread. Mondo cracked his fingers.

                “Okay, how are we doin’ this!? We all goin’ at once!?” he questioned.

                “No, the girls are going first! I need all the female students to line up at the end of the basketball court! The Pacer begins in one minute exactly! You are allowed to miss the beep only once, and then you’re kicked out! Today is a pre-test, so it won’t count against your grade! However, if you make it to level five, you receive five points of extra credit. And every level after that is another three points of extra credit! So now’s your chance to get ahead of the game! But please, I encourage you all to do your best!”

                Aoi lined up next to Sakura and the two high-fived. Fukawa lined up next to Aoi, trembling.

                “Good luck,” Aoi breathed out. Fukawa shot her a look.

                “T-thank you… I h-hope you don’t get a heart attack from running…”

                “Excuse me!?” Aoi spat. Junko waved at Chihiro.

                “Hey! Get over here! Didn’t you hear? Girls first!” Chihiro nervously walked over after hesitation, and they all prepared themselves. The boys all sat parallel of the basketball court, ready to cheer the girls on. The speakers then turned on, and announced the instructions that Chihiro had explained earlier. Aoi prepared herself for the beep, and soon enough, the first one came. All the girls slowly jogged to the other side, and Aoi made it many seconds before the beep came. She decided to slow down her pace for the next beep. After running back and forth a few times, the speakers announced that level one was complete. Aoi smiled to herself, _this isn’t so bad._

                The beeps came only a fraction faster, and no extra effort was necessary for any of the girls to run harder or faster. Aoi’s breathing was barely changing, but the slow pace had no real effect on her. The speakers announced the change of level again. The beeps came slightly faster. She felt her pace increase by only a fraction, making the beeps without any struggle. She noticed that this level lasted longer than the one before it. She shrugged it off. The announcement came on again; level four was well on its way. The beeps came faster than Aoi had expected, and she increased her pace with a bit more effort. Her breathing began to get heavier and slightly more uneven. She glanced to Fukawa who was experiencing a bit more trouble than she was. The beeps then became a sound of dread as the girls tried harder to keep up with the increasing pace. Level four was complete, and Aoi’s heart sank when she noticed how quick the next beep came.

                Asahina felt her legs working harder to keep up with the ever-increasing pace. She then noticed the boys’ cheering and clapping for them.

                “C’mon! You’re almost there! Keep goin’!”

                “You all can do it! I have full faith in you ladies!”

                “Don’t stop now girls, you’re almost there!”

                The swimmer smiled at hearing their words of encouragement and kept going. After another minute of grueling running, level five was complete. Fukawa and Chihiro walked off the line immediately to join the sidelines. They were panting from fatigue. Junko and Celestia followed them off. Aoi didn’t feel like giving up, she wanted to keep going. Sakura gave Aoi a small smile of approval and they continued running to the quick beeps of level six. In the middle of it, Sayaka walked off, breathing heavily and joining Junko and Chihiro. Kirigiri was next; she walked off tiredly after level six was complete. Mukuro was beginning to pant, but kept running. Sakura showed no sign of becoming tired. Aoi was nearly wheezing, but kept running with all the ability she had. Her legs felt like lead and her arms were nearly gelatinous, but she continued with incredible fortitude. Mukuro then jogged off after level seven, rubbing her sore legs once she reached the sidelines. Sakura high-fived Aoi as they kept going. Sakura was now at a running speed; Aoi was sprinting.

                “You can do it,” Sakura encouraged as she ran just behind Aoi. Aoi smiled weakly, excited that her friend was showing such support for her. Asahina reached each side just barely before the beep, no longer having any time to pause. Beads of sweat came from her brow, her hair was feeling damp, and her hands were more than clammy. The final beep of level eight had struck, and Aoi hit the line of the basketball of the court before falling to the floor, simply laying there. Her breathing sounded wheezy and uneven, and her legs were pounding in pain from overexertion. Sakura, although concerned, continued to run. Mondo walked over to Aoi and sat with her. Chihiro sat next to him and grabbed her hand.

                “It’s okay now, you’re done,” Chihiro uttered. Mondo nodded and rubbed Aoi’s shoulder.

                “We gotchya now, okay? You’ll be all good soon. Have some water, eh?” he said as he held up a bottle of water. Aoi sat up slowly and took the water, drinking it as if she were dehydrated for days. The water dripped all over her face and neck but she didn’t care. Mondo patted her head.

                “’Atta girl. Big brother Mondo has got you all covered!” he chimed. He picked up Aoi with a bit of a struggle, “Oh, you’re heavier than ya look.”

                “I get that a lot,” Aoi wheezed out. He carried her to the group of students on the sideline, who were now watching Sakura. Mondo gently set Aoi down next to him and put his arm around her to support her up.

                “Thanks bro,” she whispered out. He smiled.

                “Dontchya worry ‘bout it, sis. I know you and the other girls would do the same for one of us, right?”

                “Yeah,” she agreed with a weak laugh. Sayaka huddled up next to Aoi on her free side.

                “Don’t cuddle without me!” she exclaimed, resting her head on Aoi’s shoulder. “Oh my gosh, you’re so soft. Junko! Get over here!”

                Junko walked over and gasped excitedly, “Uh oh, cuddling without me? Rude. Mondo, move outta the way, that’s my spot!” Mondo stood up with a laugh and joined the guys. Junko cuddled up next to Aoi and wrapped her arms around her.

                “Jesus Christ you’re just like a pillow,” Junko commented. Aoi frowned.

                “Thanks.”

                They spent the next minute watching Sakura run. Her white mane blew behind her as she was sprinting from end to end. Her running form matched the form of an Olympic racer. The announcements rang that she had just completed level ten. Aoi gasped in amazement as Sakura continued with an increased effort. It was apparent that Sakura’s true physical ability was being tested through the Pacer. Aoi clapped without trying to make Sayaka or Junko budge from their comfortable spots. Everyone was cheering her on, marveling at her athletic ability. Aoi turned to Togami, who appeared to have a studious expression. He seemed to analyze every step she took and mentally worked the mechanics in his mind. He stroked his chin thoughtfully. Aoi shrugged and turned back to watch the spectacle. Level eleven complete. Sakura kept going.

                “She’s an animal!” Leon blurted, amazed.

                “No, she is a goddess of fitness! A spiritual gift bestowed to this Earth!” Yamada declared. Celestia laughed at his silliness.

                “She is quite impressive, obviously deserving of a spot here in the school.”

                “Aoi’s a pretty good runner too though, she kept up with Sakura the longest!” Hagakure exclaimed. Everyone turned to Aoi and showered her in compliments, calling her strong and brave. She felt her face blush and covered it. Sayaka began tickling her again.

                After minutes of tickling and squirmy madness, the speakers had a final announcement:

                “Pacer complete.”

                Sakura walked off the basketball with moderately affected breathing, but nothing nearly as serious as Aoi’s post-running condition. Every circled her and congratulated her on her impressive athletic prowess. Sticking to her nature, Sakura remained humble and thanked all the students for their kindness. The boys lined up once the announcements repeated themselves. Hagakure waved at Aoi, and she groggily waved back. Sayaka lied on Aoi’s torso, using her as a head rest. The sisters huddled next to her on either side, getting comfortable on her. Aoi groaned, knowing this was her punishment for not having smaller meals. She watched Hagakure take off his sandals and approach the line.

                “Hagakure! Are you crazy?! You’re running barefoot!?” she exclaimed. He gave her a thumbs-up.

                “It’s really okay, I prefer running without shoes!”

                “You might slip or get stepped on! You can really injure yourself!” she nagged. He walked to her and poked her nose.

                “You don’t need to worry about me, okay. I’ll be fine,” he calmly reassured her. His smile was gentle and soft, and Aoi found she couldn’t bring herself to look away. This feeling frustrated her. Aoi’s face heated up and she frowned at him.

                “Don’t look at me like that! Get on the line!” she ordered. He laughed and walked away, standing next to Naegi. He stretched his legs quickly after tying up his mass of hair.

                The beeps began again and the boys went through the same process as the girls. Aoi watched all of them run, and they all looked dramatically different from each other. Yamada’s run looked like a fast waddle, and watching him run was pretty entertaining. Ishimaru’s run was very geometric, just like his swimming. Naegi ran like any other regular person; nothing was particularly special about his technique. Togami maintained perfect posture as he jogged, and Mondo looked like he was trying to chase down something. Hagakure, on the contrary, ran like he was being chased. Aoi giggled at how his dreadlocks bounced with his pace.

                Several minutes went by before the first boy decided to call it quits. It was Yamada, who couldn’t bring himself to finish level five. The girls gave him a round of applause out of respect. Level five finished, and the rest of the boys kept running. Naegi was beginning to show signs of fatigue, and after level six he stopped and sat with Kirigiri. She simply patted his head and told him he did fine. The beeps continued, and after level seven Mondo and Ishimaru called it quits, huffing and puffing. Everyone watched the final three boys run. All the students were cheering them on, especially Fukawa who was chanting for Togami. Level eight had passed by, and Leon walked off, throwing his arms up and receiving applause from the group. The last two boys kept going without any signs of stopping. Junko’s eyes grew wide.

                “Rich boy can run! Who woulda guessed?” she commented, nuzzling into Aoi. Fukawa chimed in.

                “O-of course he’s a great runner… Byakuya is great at e-everything!” she informed. Aoi laughed.

                “Hagakure seems to be just as good as him though! Look, they’re head n’ head!”

                “Don’t you c-compare the great Byakuya to the likes of _him_!” she snapped, almost hissing. Aoi almost wanted to jump and slap her on the face for defending such a jerk, but she stopped herself and ignored her. Hagakure ran with a big smile on his face, enjoying himself. He did appear to look a little more tired. Togami kept running as well, his hair becoming damp. His face was expressionless, but Aoi could hear his breathing from the sidelines. Level nine ended, and neither of them stopped. Aoi watched, very impressed.

                “Hagakure sure has some stamina,” she breathed out. Sayaka looked up at Aoi.

                “Yeah, that should be good news for you!” she replied nonchalantly. Junko bursted with laughter and high-fived Sayaka and continued to tease Asahina. Aoi couldn’t have been frowning any harder. Mukuro nuzzled Aoi’s shoulder.

                “You’ll get used to it eventually. I have to live with her every single day.”

                “Can’t wait.”

                Level ten was announced and Togami stopped, almost wheezing. Fukawa rushed to him with her bottle of water, bowing her head in respect for him. He chugged it down and joined the others silently. He blatantly glared at Hagakure. The psychic was still running, ignoring the cheers of the students. Aoi observed him as he ran. She never noticed that he wasn’t particularly ugly; he was actually quite handsome in an exotic way. And then his… _No, I am not going to remember that incident on purpose._ Her face was bright read as she internally argued with herself. Mukuro felt Aoi’s forehead.

                “Are you sick? Your face is really warm.”

                “She’s watching her hot boyfriend get physical, Muko. Leave her alone,” Junko added. Aoi hissed.

                “He is _not_ my boyfriend!” Aoi snapped. Junko laughed and patted her head.

                “In due time, Aoi. In due time.”

                Hagakure stopped after level eleven, breathing heavily. Monobear turned off the sound system and danced to the court.

                “Congratulations to Sakura for beating the Pacer test! You are off to a great start! The rest of you, I expect you all to improve from here! Next time we do the Pacer test, you are being graded on improvement! Now go change back into your regular clothes. You all have extra time to shower before your next class. So scram!” Monobear dismissed them. The lump of students all dispersed, heading into their respective locker rooms. The girls began to undress and head into the showering area. Aoi tried to hide her body, but after a few minutes she realized that the other girls didn’t really care. She reached for the shampoo and washed her hair, drifting into her own thoughts.

                All the girls finished around the same time and got dressed. Junko and Celestia huddled to the large mirror, putting on their make-up to the best of their ability. Aoi just put on some face lotion and eyeliner and lip gloss. She turned to Sakura, smiling.

                “Ready?”

                “I actually have other business to tend to, why don’t you go on without me,” she told Asahina. Aoi furrowed her brows, and walked out the locker room. She had her backpack on and she was walking herself to the exit of the gym before she was pulled aside. It was Togami, and he cleared his throat.

                “You haven’t forgotten about tonight, have you?” he inquired in a hushed tone. Aoi folded her arms.

                “No, I haven’t forgotten. I keep my promises. I assume _you_ haven’t forgotten?”

                “Psh, like I’d be able to forget. Do you not recall exactly who you’re dealing with?”

                “Oh how could I, though? The great Byakuya Togami,” she mocked in a sing-song voice. He clenched his teeth.

                “You’re just difficult; I’m trying to be friendly here.”

                “Well, you’re not exactly doing a good job. Now excuse me, I have a class to go to,” she said as she began strutting away.

                “Hey! Nobody excuses themselves from me when I’m not finished!” he called. Aoi turned back to him, already some distance away.

                “Well I just did. So bye,” she goodbye-d with a snap. With a final glance at her schedule, she made way to her next class along with the others who left early. However, Sakura's parting words rang in the back of her mind, raising some kind of alarm.


	11. A School Year You'll Never Forget: Part Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aoi realizes that her first day on her period may impact her day more than she feared. With her emotions flying off the handle, how will she handle the swimming lessons with Togami? How will she even handle the rest of the day?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello readers! I must warn you, this chapter arc is going to be a bit long, so this chapter was a little slow. But it will speed up soon! Thank you for reading!

                Aoi walked to the next classroom and sat in the second row next to the window. Ishimaru was already in the front, prepared for learning. She couldn’t help but shake the uneasy feeling that Sakura gave her when she insisted that Aoi go to class alone. Asahina was capable of walking herself anywhere and didn’t mind being alone, but the way Sakura sent her off… Something didn’t sit right in her mind. Sakura would have told Aoi what she was doing. No reason could come to Aoi’s mind for why she was being so secretive. She pulled out her pencils and notebook paper, and chewed softly on the end of her pencil. A familiar voice chimed next to her.

                “I can sit here, right?” he asked, smiling. She knew the voice, and didn’t want to look up. For whatever reason, Aoi couldn’t bring herself to look at him. Her gaze was fixed outside the window, watching the wind weave through the grass.

                “Yeah, I suppose,” she answered in a lower volume. He sat next to her, and untied his mass of hair. She almost faced him but stopped herself; she couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed for checking him out earlier. _Wait, no. That was not checking out, that was… observing his physical qualities and making not-so-critical judgments. That’s all it was. People do that all the time_.

                “Are you mad at me?” Hagakure asked, slightly quieter than usual. She shook her head, although her face flushed red with frustration that she can’t seem to shake him off ever whether it was physically or mentally. For whatever reason, she felt rage and hysteria build up inside of her. She didn’t want to verbalize any of her true thoughts, so she simply shook her head. Hagakure pulled out his supplies and sighed and turned back to face her.

                “You’re mad at me, aren’t you?” he asked again with a saddened tone. She twitched.

                “I’m not mad!” she answered a little louder than she should have. His face faltered, scared. She finally faced him and realized she had made him feel upset.

                “If you don’t want the reading tomorrow that’s fine,” he spoke, facing her again, “you honestly don’t have to pretend to like me just to make me feel better.”

                At this point, she had felt herself losing her mind. She suddenly felt like she had to comfort him; she wanted to tell him not to be upset. Aoi turned her whole body to him.

                “I like you!” she blurted. The rest of the students faced her; a few of them snickered and giggled behind covered mouths. He blinked, shocked from Aoi’s response.

                “I m-mean, I’m not pretending that I don’t enjoy your company, is what I mean! I like being your friend, but I’m just frustrated!” she explained with clenched fists.

                “Why are frustrated?” he inquired. She tried to explain herself but it became a series of unrecognizable hand gestures and various inaudible noises. Hagakure watched in complete cluelessness with wide but interested eyes. She pinched the bridge of her nose and gave up. Her emotions were running wild, and although she was sure it was because she was on her period, she still wanted to attempt to be in control. Her hormones believed otherwise.

                “I just… I need a minute,” she excused herself feeling like she was about to cry, walking out just as Monobear popped up and the bell rang. Ishimaru stood up.

                “Where are you going!? Class is about to begin!” he interrogated. Aoi fumed and couldn’t control her odd, emotional behavior.

                “I’m gonna change my _fuckin_ ’ tampon! And then when I’m done, I’m gonna cry because I don’t know how to feel about anything and there’s blood coming out of my vagina!” she screamed, sobbing at this point. Ishimaru then realized the awful mistake he had made by even trying to talk her out of leaving. Embarrassed, confused, and suddenly emotionally conflicted, she ran out of the classroom for the nearest bathroom. Once she found the restroom, she dashed into a stall and locked it. Aoi slumped onto the toilet and sobbed. She had no idea why she was crying, but it wasn’t stopping anytime soon. She wasn’t even trying to be angsty, but sometimes she would have random crying spells. At that moment, she hated herself. She thought horrible things to herself and didn’t want to live with herself. Tears continued to stream down her face. What frustrated her most was that there was no trigger to these sudden emotions, she simply felt them.

                Her sobbing stopped after a few minutes, and her head felt heavy. She still hiccupped but the intense sobbing stopped for the most part. After she changed her tampon and washed her hands thoroughly, she dragged herself out the bathroom. She still felt disgusting, but her crying completely stopped. Suddenly, a Monobear popped out in front of her, and she gasped. Clutching her chest, she watched the robot with wide eyes.

                “You are feeling better?” it asked. She shrugged and nodded.

                “I guess,” Aoi answered. Monobear held out its paw and spun around.

                “Good, now let’s walk you back to class so you can join those losers for Trigonometry. It won’t be so bad! Just remember that even if you’re sad for no reason, there’s always a reason to be happy too!” Monobear encouraged. She wiped the rest of the tears off her face with a smile.

                “Thanks,” she said. She slowly approached the door, and walked with her head down. Aoi didn’t want to see everyone stare at her. Once she sat down, the teaching Monobear continued to go over class rules and the rest of the subjects they’d be learning. Aoi tuned everything out and stared out the window. She glanced over to Hagakure, who appeared to be very concentrated on his doodling. Aoi sighed, feeling that today was going to be much longer than she anticipated.

                The rest of the school day consisted of Aoi being silent and upset with her odd mood swings. Sakura accompanied her the rest of the day, but they sat in content silence. For the entirety of lunch, she rested her head on Sakura’s shoulder and occasionally sobbed. Sakura comforted her whole-heartedly with as much empathy as she could. Sayaka sat with Aoi at lunch as well to give her extra emotional support. Aoi was sincerely thankful for the kindness of her friends, but struggled the entire day to express it. When the last class ended, Aoi shuffled to her room and huddled on her bed after dropping her backpack on the floor. She crawled under the blanket and sulked by herself. _I just want this to end,_ she thought. Aoi felt herself doze off into a sleep as she curled into a fetal position. She was woken by a soft knock came on her door. Aoi checked the time groggily; it was 16:12.

                “Come in,” Aoi weakly greeted. To her surprise, it was Celestia carrying a tray. She closed the door behind her and sat on Aoi’s desk chair as she set the tray on the desk. She crossed her legs and placed her hands on her lap. Celestia gave Aoi a small smile.

                “Are you still feeling unwell?” she asked. Aoi nodded as she sat up, still wrapped in her blanket. Celestia hummed.

                “I can understand myself; I’m awfully moody sometimes as well. But I think that applies to everyone, so I do not think you should fret over what the other students think of you. You especially shouldn’t fret if a friend brings you… _Belgian chocolate.”_ Celesta said. Aoi tore the blanket off of her.

                “What did you just say?”

                “I said… Belgian chocolate,” Celestia repeated with a bigger smile. Aoi ran over to Celestia and screamed at the tray, then bent down to hug her. Celestia was shocked from the sudden physical contact, and simply patted Aoi’s back awkwardly.

                “Please, you can eat all of it. Consider it a gift from me,” she chimed. Aoi took a look at the tray and bowed to Celestia.

                “Thank you so much! I can’t even tell you how happy this makes me! Please let me share some with you!” Aoi exclaimed, holding the tray out to her. Celestia politely refused.

                “Thank you, but that is for you and you alone. I wish you a good afternoon Miss Asahina.”

                “Well, thank you so much again! Good afternoon!” Aoi goodbye-d as Celestia walked out. Aoi looked at the little chocolates scattered across the ornate silver tray. She reached for a piece and meticulously chewed of a piece and began crying. It was the single best piece of chocolate she had ever eaten. This specific piece of chocolate was so heavenly and delicious, that it brought Aoi Asahina to tears. The sweetness caused her body to have chills, and the rich taste was enough to completely brighten her spirits. She set the tray down on her desk, saving the rest for later. Aoi began to change into her swimsuit and put on her shorts over after changing her tampon again. She skipped out with her new feeling of complete happiness, and ran into Yamada in the hall. He was about to greet her when she embraced him with the squeez-iest hug she could give.

                “Hello Yamada!” she greeted as she pulled away. He fixed his glasses, unsure how to respond.

                “Yes, greetings to you as well! You appear to be feeling much better than before! What great news!” he enthused. She grinned.

                “Yeah, I feel happier right now! I’m gonna go!” Aoi exclaimed, in a hurry. She patted Yamada’s face and continued down the hall. She waved at everyone who walked past her on her way to the pool. When she walked onto the deck, it was devoid of other students.  She set her stuff on the bleachers and waited patiently. As she waited, she sang some of her favorite songs and heard her echo from the pool deck. She liked the way her voice sounded from the pool deck’s acoustics. Eventually the door opened and the scion strutted in with his bright blue speedo. He set his stuff beside Aoi and sat unusually close to her. He exhaled as he removed his glasses and set them in his bag. He turned to Aoi.

                “Are you okay?” he questioned. She smiled at him.

                “Yes, I’m feeling pretty good now,” Aoi replied. He nodded.

                “You know, I don’t understand mood swings and the hysteria of others, I’ve never experienced it myself,” Togami said as he flipped his hair out of his face. She raised a brow.

                “Really? But you must go under so much stress! Being the only heir to a huge conglomerate and all,” she commented. He straightened his posture with pride.

                “A true Togami never gives under stress. My mind is conditioned to handle any situation that would otherwise tear down the mental health of another,” he explained. Aoi snickered.

                “And how are you handling Fukawa?”

                “With the best of my ability. She can be a pain to bear, but her literary works are far above average, just as one should expect from her.”

                “Right. Well, enough talk! Let’s get into the pool and start learning!” Aoi enthused, hanging her goggles around her neck and excitedly making her way to the shallow end of the pool. Togami followed with his goggles, exerting himself to keep a poker face. She jumped in and waited for the scion. He took his time descending into the pool using the steps; his body didn’t adjust well to cold water.

                “Okay, so tell me. What _can_ you do in the water so I know where to begin?”

                “I can stand,” he answered quickly. Aoi waited for him to continue.

                “Anything else?”

                “I can walk.”

                “Can you float?” Aoi questioned, folding her arms. He made a face showing that he did not wish to reveal the answer, and flipped his hair out of his face.

                “I, well technically… I mean if I _really_ tried – “

                “You can’t float, can you?”

                “No. No I can’t.”

                Aoi smiled and flashed a two-thumbs-up, “That’s where we’re going to start, okay?” He sighed, beginning to look a little more nervous. She walked to him and kept her smile.

                “I won’t let you down or drown!” she reassured him. Togami sneered.

                “Don’t give me any childish zeugmas,” he snapped. Eventually Aoi asked him to calm down, and she stood next to him as he tried to balance himself on his back. Time and time again, he would spaz out and try to get back on his feet or grip on Aoi to keep himself afloat. Aoi decided to hold him up while he tried to float. They continued trial after trial until Togami’s freak-outs would get shorter and less extreme. Asahina encouraged him to use his arms to keep balance on the water’s surface. He began to get the hang of it, and she let him go. Togami lasted more than ten seconds floating on his own after an hour of grueling practice and mistrials. Aoi applauded him and he looked sincerely proud of himself. She was pretty sure this was the first time she’d seen him sincerely smile. He continued to float on his back again, smiling and even moving around in the pool. Aoi continued clapping for him. As unbelievable as it seemed to her, she really was helping Togami. He stood up in the water and checked his watch and gasped.

                “Our lesson got a little carried away; I think it’s time we head to the cafeteria. Consider today a success,” he said. His sour expression was completely gone, but Aoi knew that within minutes it would return to his face once they left the pool deck. Outside this area, the two will become bitter enemies again until they meet for the next lesson. The swimmer found it unfortunate; he had the potential to be friendly. He stepped out of the pool and headed for the pool deck’s showers and Aoi headed right after him. They got into neighboring showers, and rinsed the chlorine out of their hair. Togami then turned off his shower and nearly ran to get his blow dryer out of his bag. Aoi walked over to him, and he plugged it in to the closest outlet and began blow drying his hair. She watched him and laughed a little bit as she sat next to him and dried her hair with her towel. He turned to her and quickly blew it on her arm and back onto his hair with a grin on his face. She nudged him.

                “You’re a total nerd,” she playfully insulted. Togami laughed.

                “I am not a nerd,“ Togami replied and blew the dryer at her face. She squealed and hid her face in her towel. He continued drying his hair, and she put her sweats on over her swimsuit. The two finished getting ready and stood at the door.

                “Are you sure nobody else can know about our swimming lessons?” Aoi asked a final time. Togami sighed and put his glasses on.

                “No. At least not yet. Imagine their reactions if we informed them that we’re going to spend an hour and a half together at the pool. They’d suspect the worst.”

                “I think they’d be understanding about it,” Aoi added. He turned to her sharply.

                “We don’t say a word. And we won’t say a word. You made that promise to me and I want you to keep it.”

                She exhaled, then walked out of the pool deck with her bag. Togami followed her. They kept an eye out for anyone that was in the hall. Once they found the dorm room corridor, they dashed to their rooms as quickly as they could. Aoi closed her door with a breath. She threw the bag on the floor and checked her phone for the time. She had a message from Chihiro. “ _Where are you?”_ it asked. She noticed she was late for dinner, and changed her tampon before running out. She literally ran to the door to the cafeteria, and bursted it open. Everyone stared at her from the noise she caused. She awkwardly waved at everyone and made way to the buffet, and grabbed a tray. She piled the usual foods onto her plate and sat next to Sakura, keeping her head low.

                “Hello my girl,” Sakura greeted. Aoi turned to her.

                “Hey!” she replied. Chihiro poked at their food, eating small bits of their pizza with their fingers.

                “We were all worried about you,” Chihiro expressed while eating. Aoi’s eyes widened.

                “Really?”

                “Yes,” Sakura answered. “You caused quite a scare this morning, and then we heard from Yamada that you were experiencing an odd case of euphoria and ran off. What’s happening?”

                “Ugh,” Aoi groaned. “It’s my stupid period. I’m usually psycho on the first day,” she explained. Sakura nodded.

                “I can understand,” Sakura commented. “I suppose it happens to all of us. Maybe you should get some extra sleep tonight to rest your mind and whatnot. After all, tomorrow is a big day for you tomorrow.” Aoi cocked her head to the side.

                “Huh?”

                “Sakura told me about it,” Chihiro chimed. Aoi looked between the both of them.

                “What? What are you two talking about?” she questioned desperately. Sakura raised a brow.

                “You’ve already forgotten?” Sakura asked. Aoi shrugged.

                “Apparently.”

                “I can’t believe you’d forget about your reading tomorrow night,” she quietly muttered to herself. Aoi gasped.

                “Oh, that. Look, it’s just a reading. And it’s not anywhere private. It’s going to be in the lounge,” she harshly whispered before digging into her meal. Aoi hadn’t even thought about the reading planned tomorrow night. It was _just_ a reading, why was she getting so worked up about it? That’s all he wanted to do, right? Her face turned warm and she buried it into her food. Sakura hummed quietly.

                “You’re thinking about it, aren’t you?”

                “Don’t.” Aoi said while pointing at Sakura. She pulled her face out of the food. It was covered in grease and pepperoni. A few traces of cheese were on her forehead. Hagakure walked by their table and stopped when he saw Aoi’s face. He laughed.

                “Ha! You look delicious! Like a tasty piece of pizza!” he joked, picking a pepperoni off and putting it on his plate. Her face turned red and she cleaned all the stuff off that she could with her napkin.

                “Thank you,” she muttered. He continued walking and sat with Naegi and Kirigiri, and opened his conversation about the politics of sharks. Sakura patted Aoi’s back.

                “You’re going to have a wonderful time,” she encouraged. Aoi stood up and kept her red face hidden from everyone. She hurried out of the cafeteria, and Sakura hurried after her. Aoi turned back and stopped in the middle of the hallway.

                “What!?” she snapped. Sakura folded her arms.

                “Are you avoiding me?” she asked. Aoi raised her brow.

                “What are you talking about?”

                “I know you’re on your period, but I can’t help but think you’re up to something. Nobody knew where you went after you went to your room today. Chihiro and I checked your room, and everyone said they just saw you running around the halls.”

                “I was just going on a swim, Sakura!”

                “And you couldn’t tell us? You’re being quite defensive.”

                “I don’t think I have to tell you everything! It’s _just_ a swim!”

                “With the way you were behaving today everyone was concerned! I didn’t want you to have another episode alone!”

                The two began to heat up, their volume increasing with each phrase.

                “I’m not cutting myself, Sakura! God, you’re making it seem like I’m doing drugs or something crazy! I’m fine! I just had a weird mood swing today, that’s all!”

                “We just want you to be okay! And it would have saved me a lot of stress if you had told me where you were going! That’s what friends do! We tell each other everything! Just as I have done to you!?”

                “Excuse me!? You have _not_ told me everything at _all_! I found out about your boyfriend at the same time everyone else did when I asked you two weeks ago if you had a crush on anybody and you said no! You could have elaborated that!”

                “Aoi, I – “

                “And what was the whole deal about having ‘business’ in the locker room!? What, were you masturbating or something? You couldn’t tell me what was going on?”

                “Asahina – “

                “So don’t you go around telling _me_ that I’m being secretive! Or that I’m being weird! You’re the one keeping secrets from _me_! I should be the one concerned about you!” Aoi thundered. Sakura’s face faltered, and her argumentative stance eased. She took a step back.

                “I’m going to my room. Goodnight, Aoi.”

                Sakura walked away quickly, leaving Aoi to stand there and reflect. Her head felt dense from anger and frustration. As she watched Sakura slam the door, her face cringed from the sound that echoed through the hallway. Aoi ran her fingers through her hair. _Why did we even have that argument? Was I being too aggressive? She was just… being a good friend._ She wanted to run after her and explain herself, but her legs wouldn’t move. The swimmer sat against the wall and covered her face, holding back her sobs. Aoi knew she was acting weird today; her emotions were everywhere and she either had to squeal, cry, or yell everything she was saying. She wanted to blame her hormones, but her thoughts and actions were entirely conscious. She felt small sobs escape from her mouth.

                “Hey,” a soft voice greeted, kneeling in front of her. She turned away, and kept her face covered.

                “What do you want from me?” she growled. A gentle hand rested on her shoulder.

                “I want to read your palm tonight,” he answered. She turned to him, lip still quivering.

                “Are you positive? I d-don’t have anything planned, but I’m a bit of a mess…” she uttered. Hagakure smiled at her.

                “Mess?” he replied, looking around. “I don’t see a mess anywhere!” he turned to Aoi and gasped in playful surprise. “Oh! This mess? Well, my mother always told me that messes need to be picked up!” he exclaimed, picking her up from the floor. She smiled at his sweetness, and covered her smiling face.

                “What am I going to do with all this mess now? Oh, I know! I’m going to take it to the lounge and clean it all up!” he announced, setting her onto her feet. He took her hands and they began walking. “And when I’m done cleaning this mess, I’m going to find a very nice, pretty, and funny young lady all underneath it. But that doesn’t sound like a mess to me at all… that just sounds like a very nice, pretty, young lady that just needs some company,” he said, turning to her. She smiled at him, wiping her eye with her free hand. She hesitantly let go of his hand and muttered a “thank you” to him. The two walked to the lounge where Aoi found candles lit all over the vicinity. She glanced at him.

                “You did all of this?!” she questioned, running around and counting all the candles. He grinned.

                “Of course I did! I knew our plans would change so I set up for tonight! Now, please don’t turn on any of the lights! That will break the barrier I created to keep evil spirits out!” he warned. “The candlelight is better! So please, you can sit wherever you want! I’ll follow you!”

                The swimmer plopped on the loveseat, sitting in butterfly position. He mirrored her on the other end, and gently took her palm. Her faced flushed from the sweet loveliness in his touch, and his hands delicately traced the creases of her palm. His expression was entirely concentrated on her hand. She watched him study it through minutes of silence. At some points on her hand, his contact would give her shivers, and he smiled softly at each reaction she had.

                “You’re quite sensitive,” he commented after a few minutes. She pouted.

                “No I’m not,” she quietly snapped. Hagakure chuckled softly.

                “And quite defensive,” he added. She was about to spout rebuttal, but stopped herself.

                “Well, yeah. I guess I am.”

                “You’re a bit stubborn too. You’re not good at admitting things, even to yourself,” he mindlessly said, observing the hand. Her expression was inconspicuous.

                “Are you reading my palm still?”

                “No, I finished a while ago. I just like how soft your hand is.” Aoi took her hand away and covered her red face. _He’s being a puppy again. I have to keep my guard up_.

                “So, what information did you get?”

                “Well, your palm is quite unique! I’ve never seen such a palm with great news to give!” he happily declared. “Your life is well-rounded, and it will be very healthy too! You’re swimming for the rest of your life and your aquatic ambitions will take you great places across the world! Also, you are much more willpower-based than logical. You can be a bit impulsive and usually struggle listening to reason.”

                “So I’m stubborn, like you said?”

                “Yes, very.”

                “Well, anything else?”

                “You are verbally aggressive too!” he continued, then stopped. “But I read that you are not leaving this school alone. Someone is joining you with your world travels. And you two are going to be very happy together...” he trailed off, looking at her. “They will love you until the end of their days.”

                Her back twitched from a sudden spark of chills that ran down her back. “I’m going to find love? Someone is going to love me?” she asked, excited. He looked down bashfully with a small grin.

                “Someone already does love you,” he quietly answered. She gasped. Could it be one of her many adoring fans? Or was it someone from her old school that had unrequited love? Her mind went off on several tangents as she watched him trace his own hand, his grin remaining.

                “You are going to have two beautiful children,” he continued as if mindlessly listing things out loud. He sounded like he was in a trance. She looked at her hand, trying to see her lines.

                “Your husband will sing to them every night, and they will dance the way he does. But they will smile just as bright as you,” he cooed gently. She waved her hand in front of his face.

                “That’s an awful lot of detail, Hagakure!” she said as she noticed he was losing grip on his current surroundings. Was this the work of his psychic nature? She couldn’t exactly tell. He shook his head and laughed nervously, resting his hands on his knees.

                “Sorry! I kinda kept going there, what was I saying?”

                “You were talking about the family I was going to have!” she answered excitedly. “Do you have any other information for me?”

                “Not from your hand, no.”

                “So is that it?” she inquired, shifting in her seat. He shrugged.

                “If you want to go, you can… but I brought a movie in case you wanted to hang out. It’s one of my favorites,” Hagakure suggested. Her eyes widened in interest.

                “Which one did you bring?!” Aoi chirped. He pulled out a DVD.

                “I brought Seventeen Candles,” he answered with a smile. She squealed.

                “That is one of my favorites!” she enthused. He popped the DVD into the player and turned on the TV. After adjusting the channels and clicking “play”, he sat back onto the couch and began watching the movie. She stayed firmly awake throughout the beginning, laughing along with the funny parts and saying the more notable lines in the movie as it played. After half an hour, her eyelids became heavy. A lot was running through her mind as her eyes began resting themselves. She wanted to apologize to Sakura as soon as she could the next morning. She figured explaining what was going on between her and Togami shouldn’t be so big of a secret. After all, he’s just learning how to swim. The longer she keeps it a secret, the more the students will suspect them of doing something… else. She cringed, thinking about Togami and her on different terms. _Ew, he’s just… no_.

                Tired, she lied across Hagakure’s lap and took up most of the space on the loveseat, her attention still focused on the screen. His fingers softly played in her hair, and she smiled. It felt nice and reassuring in a way to have his hands on her. For a few brief moments, she felt entirely carefree and safe. The movie kept playing, but Aoi’s eyes proved too tired to continue. She began to sleep blissfully on Hagakure, too tired to even wish him a goodnight.


	12. A School Year You'll Never Forget: Part Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the morning after and - crap. It's the morning after. What mess has Aoi gotten herself into THIS time?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the totally late update! Classes have been crazy, as well as life! But I'm trying to update again, so don't worry too much! Thank you for your patience; enjoy!

                Aoi woke up the next morning with a stinging kink in her neck. She rustled lazily in the sheets, taking a sleepy glance at the clock. 5:28. It was almost time for her to get up anyway. She stretched her legs underneath the irresistibly warm covers. Aoi whined to herself. She’d have to face everyone again today after her series of irregular events yesterday. Her eyes blinked again, slowly adjusting to the blackness of the room. Something was off.  She sniffed the air, and caught an unfamiliar scent. Was that... incense? Honey? Aoi couldn’t seem to distinguish the exact scent, but the foreign aroma was almost comforting. At least it would be if she knew where it was coming from.

                She sat up, slightly more awake. Aoi reached out for her lamp to her left, trying to feel for the switch. Aoi frowned. The lamp wasn’t there. Did it fall? Groaning, Aoi flopped out of the bed and checked around the nightstand, bewildered.  She kneeled down and felt the air around the nightstand, but still had no luck. She stood up, stretching her arms with a long yawn. Aoi froze.

                “These aren’t my clothes,” she muttered to herself as she felt the clothing on her. She knew for certain she hadn’t packed any sweats; they were unflattering on her. And what kind of material was the shirt she was wearing? Her mind raced in confusion. Remembering she was on her period, she felt her way around to the restroom, and turned the light on before sitting on the toilet immediately. She pulled the sweats down and noticed her underwear had a large pad on it. She furrowed her brows in confusion, looking to the side at the new box of nighttime pads next to the shower. Aoi blinked.

                “Huh, I don’t wear pads,” Aoi mouthed. After disposing the tampon she was already wearing, she glanced in the mirror at her impressive bedhead. She was about to start washing her face when she noticed the candles in the restroom. She bent down and sniffed them. It was definitely a honey scent. She walked out of the restroom, looking for the ceiling light switch. After flicking it on, her eyes widened in terror as the horrible truth became very clear.

                This was not her room.

                Her clothes were folded on the desk very neatly with a tiny flower vase beside it. The bed covers rustled, and she gasped. A body sat up from the covers with a face hiding behind a large mass of messy hair. Aoi felt her heart drop suddenly. The body stood up and stretched, yawning sleepily before scratching itself on the head. Their arms pulled back their mane into a ponytail of dreadlocks. They indolently smiled at Asahina.

                “’Mornin’,” he greeted. Aoi remained in shock. He noticed the expression on her face and held his arms up defensively.

                “Before you scream, please let me explain.”

                “You better explain yourself well, because things aren’t looking good for you right now!” Aoi snapped.

                “You fell asleep on the couch, so I watched the rest of the movie. When it ended, I tried to wake you up, but you wouldn’t budge,” Hagakure began. Aoi raised a brow as she folded her arms, still listening.

                “So I kinda dragged you back to my room since I know you lock your room now, and I couldn’t find your key. So I put you in some pajamas and – “

                “ _You_ changed my clothes?!” she interrogated, feeling rage and embarrassment build up simultaneously. He attempted to calm her down, his face completely red.

                “Please, nothing happened. I changed you safe and sound. I promise! I lied you on the bed –‘

                “That doesn’t sound bad at all!” Aoi interrupted. His face frowned in frustration.

                “I’m trying to explain, please listen to me!” he begged, pointing angrily at her. Her mouth shut completely. Aoi never thought the guy could even get angry.

                “Anyway,” he continued with a sigh, “I remembered you were on your period, so I ran out and  checked the infirmary for pads, but they were out. And I didn’t wanna insert a tampon in you ‘cause that would be… yeah. So I ran out and went to a convenience store nearby and bought you some good pads and hurried back. So, I – as quickly as possible, I swear – put the pad on her underwear and put you to bed. There.”

                “I’m both uncomfortable and flattered,” Aoi croaked. She hid her face in her hands.

                “I promise I didn’t look at anything I wasn’t supposed to see,” Hagakure assured.

                “I don’t know why, but I believe you,” she admitted, leaning against the wall. Exhaling, Aoi ran her fingers through her hair. “I seriously doubt you would try to do anything.”

                “Thanks,” he replied.

                “But you’re a big, dumb idiot!” she spat, becoming argumentative. He backed up, raising brows in confusion.

                “W-wha!?”

                “If someone found out I was in your room – they would think – I don’t even want to imagine what they’d think! But it certainly wouldn’t be anything good! And – where are your clothes? We slept in the same bed and you were in briefs!?”

                He looked down at his underwear, and looked back up innocently, “I think they look nice.”

                “How clueless are you!? On a scale of one to ten!?”

                “I didn’t think anything of it!”

                “Of course not!” she yelled, “You don’t think through anything!” She threw one of his sandals on the floor at him. He moved his head aside, stammering as she continued to ramble and throw objects at him.

                “And I already know you mean so well, like you’re actually very genuine but you get me caught up in these situations that look not-so-innocent from every single angle! First was the laundry, then the shower incident, and now this!? If you weren’t so nice – so freaking _wonderful_ – we wouldn’t get in these messes!” she yelled, panting. He stopped where he stood, blinking. Aoi turned pink as she briefly reflected on what she just said, or what he may have heard.

                “You really think that?” Hagakure asked softly. They shared eye contact for seconds.

                “You really think I’m wonderful?” he beamed, pointing at himself. Aoi figured he would have heard that much. She pinched the bridge of her nose, preparing to explain herself.

                Until a firm knock came on the door, that is.

                “Oh shit!” Yasuhiro gasped, running up to the door. He glanced back at her. “Hide!” he mouthed. Aoi nodded and scrambled around, then dove under the bed. Aoi heard him turn the knob and open the door. She could even hear his smile through his greeting.

                “’Taka, mornin’ my man!” he greeted. A pair of boots made way into the room, stepping around.

                “I heard yelling,” Ishimaru’s voice stated, “is everything all right in here?” Aoi got a quick view of Hagakure standing in front of the desk, hiding Aoi’s clothes from Ishimaru’s perspective. She felt her stomach drop from the situational anxiety. Hagakure’s expression became somber.

                “Actually, no. There’s something very wrong here.”

                _You better not, I swear to god._

                “I beg your pardon?” Ishimaru replied.

                “This room is… I’m sorry to tell you, but it’s… possessed.”

                “W-what!?”

                _What!?_

                “Yes, it’s true! And I’ve been spending this entire morning trying to remove the spirit from my room!” Hagakure confessed. The hall monitor’s feet backed closer to the door.

                “B-but how!?”

                “There used to be a f-farm here,” Hagakure explained, “Yes, a farm here over a hundred years ago. There was a small family, y’see? A dad, a mom, and a daughter. The daughter was possessed by evil spirits though, so she stabbed her parents to death with a kitchen knife!”

                “No!”

                “Yes!” Yasuhiro confirmed, “And after that, the spirits told her to drown herself in the pond where the pool now is. And she is in this room! Haunting my bed! Threatening to spread the curse of the evil spirits!”

                “Y-your bed?” Ishimaru asked with a trembling voice. Aoi smirked and started shaking the bed from underneath, making spooky noises.

                “And I’m coming for you next!” she threatened in a creepy voice. Ishimaru screamed, scrambling about the room. Yasuhiro gasped.

                “Taka, I need you to do exactly what I say in order to break the curse! You have to run around the campus four times and then find a bundle of sage from the nearest garden! You then must return and perform an exotic dance in the center of the school building for exactly forty-five seconds!”

                “T-the center… that’s the cafeteria!” Ishimaru piped in.

                “Yes, you must dance in the cafeteria after you do all of that first! I’ll hold her off for now! Now go!”

                Ishimaru’s boots could be heard racing down the hall. Aoi crawled out from under the bed, brushing herself off and fixing her disheveled clothes. Both Hagakure and Asahina glanced at each other. They then bursted into laughter. She even let out a few snorts.

                “That was some quick thinking,” she complimented.

                “I think the spooky noises was icing on the cake, though.”

                “You think he’s really going to dance?”

                “I have no doubt in my mind,” Hagakure answered with a genuine laugh. The two stood together in content silence for a minute. Aoi cleared her throat, making way to her clothes folded on his desk.

                “I should get ready now,” she said as she walked to the door. He opened it for her, grinning.

                “Well, alright then. Wait!” he exclaimed, running to the bathroom. He dashed back out with the box of pads, holding it out to her.

                “They’re for you,” he said. Aoi smiled and took them.

                “Thanks, bye.”

                Asahina made her way out the door and quietly went back to her room, holding the clothes and box with careful dexterity. She set them outside her door and pulled her key from her bra, then unlocked her door. The mellifluous aroma of chlorine filled her nostrils as she kicked her stuff into her room. After closing the door quietly, she flopped onto the bed. For reasons that she couldn’t understand, the image of Yasuhiro laughing never left her mind. It calmed her somehow.

                She reached out for her phone on the nightstand: no texts. Aoi whined before cracking her knuckles and began getting ready. She decided this morning she’d put a smaller bit more effort into getting ready. After putting on a sporty tank and comfortable yoga pants, she took a good look in the mirror. Hesitantly, Aoi reached for her underused make-up bag and pulled out her usual eye liner, but also pulled out the lip gloss. Again, she wasn’t exactly sure why, but she really wanted to look prettier.

                Applying make-up eased her mind a bit, if she didn’t screw up at least. Aoi winged her eyeliner, and even applied some foundation. She took a step back, and smiled in the mirror.

                “I should do this more often,” she whispered.

                She then made her way to the cafeteria before pausing in front of another dorm room. The front of the door read “Sakura Oogami”. Aoi clenched her fists. Her heart raced suddenly. She had to make up with her best friend as soon as possible. If she waited too long, then things would get weird. After closing her eyes shut in anticipation, Aoi knocked on the door softly. Ten long seconds passed before it opened, with Sakura freshly washed and dressed standing in the doorway.

                “Aoi?” she greeted with an expression of confusion. Aoi jumped up and hugged Sakura immediately, babbling incoherently.

                “I’m so sorry I was being a jerk last night!” she apologized. Sakura’s arms hugged Asahina back gently, patting her.

                “I’m sorry too, my girl. It was rude of me to be so hypocritical to you.”

                “I’ll tell you everything, I promise! From now on, no more secrets!” Aoi promised, getting off Sakura. The fighter smiled in agreement.

                “Yes, there will be no secrecy between us any longer. Come with me to the cafeteria, I think I should tell you everything first. There shouldn’t be anyone else there.”

                “Right! Let’s go!”

                With arms locked, the girls happily reunited themselves while walking to the cafeteria. Aoi began explaining Byakuya’s fear of swimming, and told Sakura all about their scheduled practices. Sakura nodded in understanding, vowing to keep the heir’s secret from everyone else. They entered the cafeteria, chatting on and on about Togami. Minutes later, the girls were sitting at a corner table away from all the doors and commenced their breakfast.

                “I guess I should tell you the other thing too,” Aoi mumbled. Sakura’s head cocked to the side.

                “Tell me everything,” she replied with a genuinely interested expression.

                “Well, I got my reading from Hagakure last night instead of tonight,” the swimmer said. Sakura shoved her own food aside and leaned in with curious eyes.

                “Spill.”

                “Okay, well, he gave me a reading – “

                “I already knew that.”

                “I’m trying to tell you, girl! Lemme speak!” Aoi laughed as she threw a piece of onigiri at Sakura’s face. Sakura scrunched her face before cleaning off the bits of rice off her nose.

                “Anyway, he said that I’m going to find a very loving husband, and have two kids! And, uh – oh! He also said that the husband will be from this school! And that he will sing to my children every night before they go to sleep,” she elaborated. Sakura’s eyes widened.

                “From this school?” Sakura questioned, “are you sure he wasn’t just talking about himself?”

                “Even if he was, there’s only a thirty percent chance of him being correct. That’s an ‘F’.”

                “Yes, indeed. An ‘F’ for ‘Fucking Likely’.” Aoi’s jaw dropped at Sakura’s language, and she nudged her best friend.

                “Holy crap, Sakura, watch your mouth!”

                “Don’t change the subject my girl, you know it’s very likely it could be him,” Sakura teased as she reached for another grape from her plate.

                “It could be someone else, you know.”

                “Oh yes. Like Togami, perhaps?”

                Silence entered their conversation for a moment, and the girls shared a laugh.

                “Okay, ew. That’s gross,” Aoi said. Sakura nodded as well.

                “Let’s agree to not joke about that ever again,” she agreed, “but tell me more. You didn’t sound done.”

                “Oh yeah, so after the reading, we began watching a movie, but I fell asleep on the couch. So I guess he like, took me to his room and – “

                “He _what!?”_  Sakura interrupted.

                “Nothing weird happened, I can assure you!”

                “Then tell me what happened!” Sakura urged, leaning in to the conversation.

                “Okay, well it turns out he went out and bought pads for me because I was on my period, right? So – “

                “He put it on your underwear for you?”

                “Yes. Yes he did.”

                Sakura bellowed a hearty laugh, holding her stomach: “Please, keep going!”

                “And he changed me into his pajamas, while he slept in… briefs.”

                “And you two shared the bed?”

                “Yes.”

                Sakura chuckled harder, leaning back. Aoi calmed her down.

                “I know, he’s a big idiot.”

                “Did anyone notice you two?”

                “Well, Ishimaru heard us wake up because I was kind of yelling at him. So Hagakure told me to hide under the bed, right? And he like, convinced Ishimaru that the room was possessed. So I shook the bed from underneath and made a bunch of spooky noises! And then Hagakure told him to run around the school four times, sprinkle it with sage, and run into the cafeteria to perform an exotic dance for forty-five seconds!” Asahina explained. Sakura’s laughed continued.

                “That was wild from start to finish,” she commented. Aoi nodded.

                “Yeah, it was really quite an experience!”

                Sakura allowed her laugh to subside after a few minutes of more chatting with Aoi. She then straightened her posture and looked around the cafeteria. It was still empty of everyone else except them.

                “So I did some investigating,” Sakura whispered to Aoi. The swimmer raised a brow.

                “Investigating?”

                “Yes, but let me explain first. It’s about Chihiro.”

                “Wait, Chihiro? What would Chihiro do?” Aoi suddenly asked. Investigating was something odd for Sakura, but investigating Chihiro of all students didn’t sound right at all.

                “Allow me to elaborate. At first it was extremely subtle. The day of the pool party, we all went shopping as a group of girls except for Touko and Chihiro. Touko didn’t come because she didn’t hear the announcement… but that was because she followed Byakuya out when he threw a fit. Remember that?”

                “Yeah…?”

                “Chihiro stayed because she said she wanted to help set up the stereo system and help Mondo. But I want you to think about this: did Chihiro really need to stay with Mondo and Leon? They had help from Ishimaru, and they easily could have set up the stereo system without Chihiro’s help. And with Chihiro’s experience with technology, she didn’t need to stay to become familiar with the equipment. “

                Aoi’s eyes shifted around, and then squinted at Sakura, “What’s your point?”

                “I believe in that case, Chihiro didn’t stay because she wanted to help, Chihiro stayed because she didn’t want to come with us.”

                “What does that have to do with anything?”

                “Remember what Chihiro wore to the pool party? A t-shirt and shorts. Not a swimsuit.”

                “Are you saying Chihiro has low self-esteem?”

                “No, what I’m saying is it appears that way, but I don’t believe it to be true.”

                “What?”

                “Remember the day we received uniforms and tried them on? And Chihiro was glancing at the boys’ uniforms? She didn’t come to the locker room with us to change, but claimed she went to her room and changed. When we walked out, she was already changed. But did you notice that Chihiro had no signs of being fatigued?”

                “I guess you’re right about that, but where are you going with this?”

                “The only way Chihiro could have changed in her room is if she literally sprinted to her fullest extent, changed as quickly possible, and sprinted at the same speed back. We both know that Chihiro is not athletic, as made obvious by the PACER test. Therefore, what she said is a blatant lie.” Aoi felt herself leaning closer, now completely submerged into the conversation with full interest. It sounded like Sakura really had an important point.

                “Why would she lie, though?”

                “Because, she changed in the boy’s room. That’s the only way she could have done it.”

                Aoi gasped, covering her mouth. “What!? There’s no reason why she would do that!”

                “Well here’s the last thing. After the PACER test, I already had my suspicions. So I waited in the girl’s locker room for a sign of Chihiro. Because if it was due to self-esteem reasons, Chihiro would have used the girl’s locker room after she knew all the other girls left. I waited for twenty minutes, and Chihiro never walked in. That’s when I was sure.”

                “Sure? Sure of what?” Aoi reached for her protein shake and began drinking, trying to keep eye contact with Sakura.

                “I’m sure that Chihiro isn’t a girl at all, but is, in fact, a boy.”

                Aoi spit out her drink all over her heap of food, making a gawked expression at Sakura. According to Sakura’s logic, it did make sense. However, the information was too bold to simply believe. She eyed Sakura oddly, who gave a small shrug with a side smile.

                “You’re serious? You really think that?” Aoi interrogated, whispering harshly. Sakura leaned in closer until the two were only less than twelve inches apart.

                “I’m positive. After all, we’re all going to be a class together for a year. This may be the year he reaches puberty and that my theory is proven correct.”

                “I think your logic is a bit farfetched, Sakura!”

                “But I know that you’re definitely considering it’s a possibility.”

                Before Aoi could retort, she stopped herself and leaned back into her chair. Sakura was right. The possibility was there, and it even sounded more likely than not. Still, Asahina remained skeptical and eyed Sakura.

                “I’m thinking about it,” she said.

                “I know,” Sakura affirmed.

                Soon enough, the girls returned to normal chatter about workout routines and sweat-proof make-up as the rest of the students walked in. Junko waved down Aoi and Sakura and rushed over to meet them after grabbing small slices of fruit. She raved about a collection of stores downtown that the girls _had_ to visit sometime soon with her. Aoi listened in as carefully as she could, trying to keep up with Junko’s speedy tempo of conversation. Momentarily, Mukuro joined them, but appeared to be daydreaming the whole time.

                “Oh yeah, I heard a small rumor going around,” Junko whispered to the table. Aoi felt her heart sink into her stomach. _Oh shit, does she know?_

“What kind of rumor?” Sakura inquired, leaning in with interest. Junko raised a brow.

                “I heard we already have a test this week. In Trig.”

                Aoi both tensed up and felt relief at the same time. “What!? We can’t take a test on the first week! Are they crazy?”

                “We’re supposed to be elite students,” Mukuro finally chimed. Junko rolled her eyes.

                “Still, it’s absolute crap that it’s on a Friday. I’m pretty sure we all wanted to just chill out. And too much stress is going to give us premature grey hairs and wrinkles, and there is _no_ way I’m going to let that happen to me.”

                “Then we should form a study group,” Aoi suggested. “That should help, right?”

                “A wonderful idea,” Sakura agreed. Junko grinned.

                “What do you do in study groups? Do you actually, like, study? Do people really do that?” Junko complained. Mukuro groaned.

                “Yes. That’s why it’s called a study group. So you can _study_. In a _group_.”

                “Did I ask for your sass? No. No I didn’t. Did I ask you anything ever? No. Stop talking. You’re done,” Junko snarled at Mukuro, bonking her shoulder. Mukuro rested her face on her hand, looking unamused. Aoi studied her carefully; she was just as pretty as her sister. Her beauty was colder, like a kind of beautiful that winter would be described as. Junko was more like a summer. It was very obvious that Mukuro didn’t seem interested in acquaintanceship with anyone at the school, at least, to Aoi. Still, she couldn’t shake that she was very curious about Mukuro. Something about her aloofness lured Aoi’s interest.

                “Hey Mukuro, what do you like to do for fun?” she suddenly asked, interrupting Junko’s rant about the nearby nail salon. Mukuro’s gaze shifted to meet Aoi’s eyes. She shrugged indifferently.

                “I like paintball.”

                “What’s this I hear about paintball?” Mondo popped in, resting a hand on Aoi’s head and patting it. Everyone turned to him. Chihiro stood next to him, holding a tray of minimal food. Aoi exerted herself in trying not to stare.

                “I just said that I like paintball,” Mukuro repeated. Mondo gave a thumb’s-up.

                “Hey, that’s fuckin’ kickass! Paintball is so much fun! I haven’t done it in forever!” Mondo enthused.

                “Doesn’t it hurt, though?” Chihiro asked. Mondo put his hands on his hips.

                “It leaves a few welts, but nothin’ too bad. It’s really good shit. Totally worth the pain.”

                “I bet me and Muko could kick your ass at paintball!” Junko bragged. Aoi saw Mondo’s posture change into an aggressive stance. She almost wanted to laugh at his constant need to be manly.

                “Two against one?! That ain’t fair!”

                “Then pick a partner you freakin’ Bugle,” Junko retorted. Mondo looked around the room.

                “Eeeeh, ah! I pick Leon _and_ Chihiro!”

                “But then that’s three against two,” Sakura added. Leon heard his name and turned to face the table, curious.

                “What’s goin’ on over there?” he questioned from afar. Junko laughed.

                “We’d still win! The only threat on your team is Chihiro. You’re an easy target, and anyone can tell that Leon is a _wee-nie!_ ” she called out in his direction. Leon stood up suddenly, face red with fury. He stormed over, standing by Mondo.

                “You take that back,” he demanded. Junko stuck out her tongue.

                “Only if you beat us in paintball first. Weenie.” Leon growled and looked at all the girls at the table.

                “Fine! Paintball match, today! Girls against boys!” Leon yelled. Aoi looked at him in confusion.

                “Wait, what!? I never said – “

                “It’s a deal!” Junko agreed with him. She stood up and looked down at Sakura and Aoi. “We can handle these boys! Can’t we, girls?”

                “Uh, well actually – “

                “Yes we can,” Sakura answered. Aoi frowned, giving up on even trying voicing her opinion. Chihiro fiddled their fingers nervously.

                “I’m a little scared… I heard paintballs hurt.”

                “Not if you wear all the right gear!” Mondo assured, “But I don’t have to because paintballs can’t hurt my thick skin!” He pounded his chest with his fist, grinning proudly. The bragging from Junko, Mondo, and Leon continued until a loud burst came from the side of the cafeteria. In the doorway was Ishimaru, panting. He ran to the center of the cafeteria, and commenced god-awful crump dancing. The entire cafeteria was silent. Leon immediately pulled out his phone, and began recording him.

                “Yeah! Keep going! Get down – faster! Drop it, drop it, yeah man! Aw shit, lookit him go!”

                Leon and Mondo started laughing as they watched him, even pounding the table to give him a beat to dance to. Ishimaru then stopped the dancing abruptly, and sat on the floor.

                “The curse! It – it’s gone! The school is no longer cursed!” he gladly announced. Leon raised a brow in confusion.

                “The only thing here that’s cursed is your shitty dancing.”

                Aoi laughed along with the rest of the cafeteria, wishing Hagakure was around to see Ishimaru carry out the instructions he gave him. Not even that, she simply wished that he was here.

                She didn’t like admitting to herself that she was wishing that, of course.


End file.
